ai , 


^■'■hih^i;^!-^'' ' 


THE  GIFT  OF 

MAY  TREAT  MORRISON 

IN  MEMORY  OF 

ALEXANDER  F  MORRISON 


THE    FAR    EAST    UNVEILED 


The 

Far  East   Unveiled 

An  Inner  History  of  Events  in  Japan  and  China 
in  the  Year  1916 


BY 

FREDERIC    COLEMAN,    F.R.G.S. 

Author  of  "  From  Mons  to  Ypres  with  French,"  "  With 
Cavalry  in  1915,"  "Japan  Moves  North,"  etc.  etc. 


HOUGHTON    MIFFLIN    COMPANY 
Boston  and  New  York 


^ 
^ 


H)et)icateD 

TO 

Two  OF  MY  Melbourne  Friends, 
T.  F. 

AND 

J.  E.  D., 

OF  WHOSE  INTEREST  IN 

THE  Mastery  of  the  Pacific 

THE  Project  of  my  Tour  in  the 

Far  East  in  1916  was  Born 


V 


427853 


AUTHOR'S    PREFACE 

In  April  1916,  the  Taiyo,  the  leading  monthly  magazine 
in  Japan,  published  an  article  by  J.  W.  Robertson  Scott, 
who  subsequently  brought  out  an  expansion  of  it  in 
pamphlet  form. 

From  more  than  one  standpoint  it  was  one  of  the 
sanest,  soundest,  most  temperate  and  most  friendly  mes- 
sages to  the  Japanese,  from  a  man  who  was  frankly  fond 
of  Japan  and  the  Japanese  people,  that  has  ever  been 
written. 

One  chapter  contained  the  following  :  "  Experience  of 
the  past  few  years  has  shown  that  the  best  friends  of  Japan 
are  not  those  who  speak  only  smooth  things  to  her.  Those 
are  her  friends  who  tell  her  that  Japan  is  now  at  the  part- 
ing of  the  ways. 

"Her  statesmanship  in  recent  years  has  been  marvel- 
lously able.  But  it  seems  to  be  exposed  just  now  to  the 
severest  test  it  has  ever  had  to  undergo.  If  Japan  can 
exhibit  wisdom,  patience  and  self-restraint  during  the 
War  her  future  can  hardly  fail  of  being  glorious,  and  she 
will  deserve  the  thanks  of  the  human  race.  Those  will  be 
her  deserts  because,  at  a  time  when  mankind  was  oppressed 
by  bloodshed,  as  never  before  in  human  history,  she  dared 
to  act  with  prudence,  the  finest  foresight,  and  a  deep  sense 
of  right. 

"There  is,  however,  another  course  open  to  Japan. 
She  may  be  rash.  Old  as  a  nation,  but  young  in  her 
realisation  of  national  power,  she  is  like  a  young  giant. 
She  may  forget  what  Shakespeare  said,  that  though  it  is 
excellent  to  have  a  giant's  strength,  it  is  tyrannous  to  use 
it  like  a  giant.     Forgetting  the  limits  to  her  own  strength. 


viii  PREFACE 

she  may  fail  to  remember  her  not  as  yet  fully  developed 
commercial  ability  and  industrial  efficiency,  the  limits 
to  her  financial  power  which  are  so  well  known  in  the 
United  States  and  Europe,  the  elementary  stages  which 
representative  and  parliamentary  government  have  reached, 
the  imperfect  control  which  is  exercised  over  an  in- 
dustrialism which  may  yet  sap  in  no  small  measure  the 
vitality  of  the  nation,  and  the  lessened  degree  to  which 
religion  or  old  codes  of  honour  are  controlling  that  social 
ferment  which  is  inevitable  during  the  active  development 
of  any  country.  She  may  not  realise  until  too  late  the 
risk  to  which  a  still  developing  race  is  exposed  in  in- 
sufficiently considered  contact  with  another  race,  equally 
old  and  much  more  numerous.  The  risk  to  which  she  is 
exposed  is  the  risk  of  an  alloying,  a  watering  down,  it 
may  be  even  a  submergence  of  those  distinctly  national 
qualities  which  are  primarily  the  strength  of  Japan.  In 
such  a  case  it  may  be  found  that  a  great  Empire,  when 
it  thought  it  was  taking  a  step  forward,  was  actually 
arresting  its  own  progress." 

Mr.  Robertson  Scott  was  right.  In  1916  Japan  was 
at  the  parting  of  the  ways.  One  would  indeed  be  bold 
who  would  say  that  she  will  be  in  any  other  position  until 
the  Great  War  is  done  and  the  world  has  had  time  to 
scan  the  actual  conditions  of  the  peace  that  will,  please 
God,  follow  it  for  many  a  long  day. 

The  future  of  Japan  is  in  the  hands  of  Japan. 

It  is  not  my  intention  in  writing  this  book  to  prognos- 
ticate what  that  future  will  be.  My  object  is  to  endeavour 
to  tell  the  English-speaking  world  something  of  the  actual 
conditions  in  Japan  and  the  Far  East  at  one  stage,  an 
important  one,  of  her  development. 

I  owe  my  trip  to  the  Orient  in  1916  to  the  editor  and 
proprietors  of  the  Herald  of  Melbourne,  Australia.  Know- 
ing that  I  had  spent  many  of  the  earlier  years  of  my  life 
in  watching  some  of  the  strenuous  times  through  which 
China  and  Japan  had  passed  during  the  closing  days  of 


PREFACE  ix 

the  last  century  and  the  first  few  years  of  the  present  one, 
they  proposed  I  should  take  a  somewhat  extended  tour, 
and  study  the  points  that  would  most  likely  be  productive 
of  a  fair,  unbiased  sidelight  on  current  events  in  China 
and  Japan. 

1  approached  my  task  in  no  light  mood.  My  own 
limitations  were  not  unknown  to  me.  For  several  months 
I  worked  hard  to  get  to  the  bottom  of  things.  I  was  not 
anti-Japanese,  nor  was  I  pro-Japanese.  I  have  Japanese 
"friends,  but  so  far  as  I  am  aware,  no  Japanese  enemies. 
If  I  may  pride  myself  on  just  one  point,  I  am  a  fairly 
impartial  observer  of  men  and  events,  except  in  so  far  as 
the  actions  of  men  or  nations  transcend  those  principles 
of  right  and  wrong  which  are  the  natural  inheritance  of 
the  average  man  born  of  God-fearing  American  parents. 

It  is  far  from  my  intention  to  thrust  upon  the  reader 
my  own  likes  and  dislikes,  my  own  opinions  and  con- 
clusions. At  times  they  may  crop  up,  in  spite  of  such  a 
resolution.  But  speaking  broadly,  my  constant  aim  is  to 
put  before  my  readers  generally  the  actual  evidence  of 
my  eyes  and  ears,  both  of  which  I  kept  wide  open  irr  the 
Orient  for  several  months  in  the  latter  part  of  1916. 

I  wish  to  tender  my  sincere  thanks  to  the  editor  and 
proprietors  of  the  Melbourne  Herald,  not  only  for  making 
my  journeyings  possible,  but  for  generously  allowing  me 
to  publish  this  book  from  the  notes  taken  while  thus 
engaged. 

My  profound  thanks  are  also  readily  acknowledged  to 
the  dozens  of  kind  and  patient  Japanese  and  Chinese, 
many  of  them  in  the  highest  places,  who  left  no  stone 
unturned  to  assist  me  to  come  to  a  full  and  fair  realisation 
of  just  what  had  taken  place  and  just  what  was  taking 
place  in  the  Far  East.  No  less  is  my  gratitude  due  to 
the  many  English  and  American  friends  who  generously 
laboured  to  keep  me  from  the  many  pitfalls  that  beset  the 
observer  in  China  and  Japan  whose  experience  of  neither 
country  is  so  ripe  and  full  as  that  of  those  who  have  spent 


X  PREFACE 

their  lives  in  the  Orient.  If  at  times  I  seem  to  have  run 
counter  to  their  earnestly  expressed  beliefs,  I  can  only 
plead  conscientious  effort,  and  remind  them  that  at  times 
the  perspective  of  distance  from  an  object  or  a  situation 
may  give  one  the  fairer  picture. 

Finally,  I  by  no  means  believe  that  a  war  between 
Japan  and  America  is  inevitable.  Many  honest  folk  do 
so  believe.  I  disagree  with  them  with  equal  honesty. 
Before  the  day  could  come  when  the  world  might  see  Japan 
and  America  engaging  in  armed  conflict  for  the  Mastery 
of  the  Pacific,  I  have  been,  since  1916,  confident  that  the 
lessons  of  the  Great  European  War  would  not  only  have 
caused  Japan  to  draw  back  from  any  policy  that  might 
smack  of  Prussian  teaching,  but  would  cause  the  awaken- 
ing of  my  own  country  that  has  resulted  in  her  so  arming 
herself  that  her  preparation,  in  itself,  made  her  so  strong, 
without  the  least  diminution  of  her  ideas  of  Right  and 
Righteousness,  that  to  attack  her  would  be  obviously 
foolish. 

The  world  is  growing  better,  not  worse.  That  seems 
to  be  the  general  plan  of  things,  after  all.  Japan  and 
China  can  produce  no  picture,  brought  into  proper  per- 
spective, that  can  make  me  any  less  hopeful  that  all  will 

come  right  in  the  end. 

Frederic  Coleman. 


CONTENTS 


1.  Japan's  Opportunities    .... 

2.  Japan's  Attitude  toward  China    . 

3.  Concerning  the  Open  Door  . 

4.  Anticipation  in  1908       .... 

5.  An  Anti-British  Press  Campaign   . 

6.  On  Englishmen  in  the  Orient 

7.  Sidelights  on  China       .... 

8.  More  about  China  .... 

9.  Chinese  Views  about  Japanese  Assistance 

10.  The  Five  Group  Demands 

11.  The  Genesis  of  the  Hanyeping     . 

12.  A  Loan  from  Japan        .... 

13.  A  Chat  with  China's  Premier 

14.  An  Important  Document 

15.  A  Cynical  View  from  Peking 

16.  Baron  Hayashi  on  the  Five  Group  Demands 
,   17.  A  Concrete  Suggestion 

18.  Japanese  Militarists  and  Chinese  Sovereignty 

19.  A  Chinese  Opinion  on  Chinese  Politics 

20.  The  President  of  China 

21.  I  GO  TO  Manchuria         .... 

22.  The  South  Manchurian  Railway  . 

23.  A  Visit  to  the  Shahokou  Works  . 


I 

4 
8 

12 

17 
22 
27 
32 
37 
43 
48 

52 
57 
63 
68 

72 

n 
82 

88 
93 
97 

lOI 

105 


xii  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER 

24.  On  Japanese  and  Chinese  Labour 

25.  Coolie  Labour  at  the  Dairen  Docks    . 

26.  The  Open  Door  from  a  Japanese  Standpoint 

27.  Concerning  Treaty  Obligations    . 

28.  On  Temporary  Discrimination 

29.  The  Truth  about  the  German  in  Manchuria 

30.  The  Man  to  Whom  the  Door  is  Closed 

31.  One  Kind  of  Friendly  Co-operation     . 

32.  Japanese  Progress  in  Korea 

33.  Conservation  of  Labour  in  Japan 

34.  The  Evolution  of  the  Japanese  Commercial 

Element  ..... 

35.  The  Girls  of  the  Cotton  Mills     . 

36.  Factories  and  Factory  Dormitories 

37.  Another  Beehive  of  Industry 

38.  Japan  and  the  War  in  19 16  . 

39.  Britain's  Embargo  on  Shipments  of  Hosiery 

40.  Prospective  Industrial  Control  for  Japan 

41.  On  Commercial  Morality 

42.  The  Japanese  Labourer  and  his  Hire  . 

43.  Terauchi  and  his  Premiership 

44.  The  Coup  of  the  Genro  in  1916 

45.  Sidelights  from  the  "  Asahi  " 

46.  Japanese  Newspapers  on  Terauchi's  Appoint 

ment         .... 

47.  A  Supporter  of  Terauchi 

48   Why  Terauchi's  Appointment  was  Constitu 
TIONAL        .... 

49.  On  the  Japanese  Constitution 


no 
116 
119 
124 

128 

135 
141 
146 
151 

159 

165 
170 

175 
184 
190 

195 
203 
208 
214 
219 
223 
229 

236 
242 

247 
252 


CONTENTS  xiii 

CHAPTER  PACE 

50.  First  Days  of  Terauchi's  Premiership           .  256 

51.  Terauchi  on  Japan's  Policies         .         .         .  260 

52.  Terauchi  to  his  Fellow-Countrymen     .         .  264 

53.  A  Talk  with  Count  Terauchi        .         .         .  268 

54.  Kato  and  the  Opposition  Party             .         .  273 

55.  A  New  Attitude  toward  China              .         .  277 

56.  The   Japanese    Attitude    toward    American 

Enterprise  in  China        ....  281 

57.  Japan  and  American  Capital          .         .  287 
Index     ........  293 


THE  FAR  EAST   UNVEILED 


CHAPTER    I 

japan's     OPPORTUNITIpS    . 

At  times  the  eyes  of  the  whole  world  are  turned  to  the  East, 
as  some  phase  in  the  agelong  struggle  for  the  Mastery  of 
the  Pacific  assumes  sufficient  importance  for  the  moment  to 
outweigh  the  interest  of  the  people  of  the  Western  world  in 
their  more  immediate  affairs  close  at  home. 

Such  special  interest  is  almost  invariably  the  fruit  of 
some  overt  action  on  the  part  of  one  of  the  Powers, 
Occidental  or  Oriental,  particularly  when  it  takes  the  form 
of  a  recourse  to  force  of  arms  or  definitely  threatens  to  do  so. 

The  Great  War  in  the  West  has  so  long  focused  the  at- 
tention of  participant  and  onlooker  that  nothing  short  of  an 
actual  outbreak  of  hostilities  would  draw  that  attention  from 
the  eastern  or  western  fronts  of  the  European  conflict. 

The  world  has  always  taken  a  spasmodic  interest  in  the 
general  question  of  the  Mastery  of  the  Pacific  when  it 
realised  that  some  development  of  the  interests  of  any  one 
particular  Power  was  taking  place.  That  it  will  do  so  when 
the  war  in  the  West  is  over  is  more  than  likely.  It  will  dis- 
cover that  some  changes  have  been  taking  place,  changes 
which  will  have  given  a  different  trend  to  the  general 
problem  of  the  progress  of  the  Eastern  world.  That  these 
changes  have  taken  place  quietly,  without  recourse  to  force 
of  arms  in  the  broad  sense,  that  they  have  taken  place  at  a 
time  when  no  peaceful  propaganda  could  possibly  have 
drawn  the  eyes  of  the  watchers  of  Armageddon  in  Europe, 
will  perhaps  make  such  changes  all  the  more  difficult  of 
realisation  by  those  who  have  not  watched  them  in  their 
gradual  growth. 

Japan's  history  has  ever  been  of  great  interest  to  anyone 


2  THE    FAR    EAST    UNVEILED 

who  has  attempted  a  study  of  it.  Some  chapters  of  that 
history  have  been  decidedly  romantic.  The  chapter  that 
was  written  in  1916  bids  fair  to  be  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant, if  not  the  most  romantic,  of  them  all. 

A  new  school  of  thought  has  been  born  in  Japan.  It 
may  be  unfair  to  say  it  was  born  so  recently  as  the  span 
of  the  first  twelvemonth  of  the  war,  but  if  it  existed  before 
it  was  not  in  sufficient  evidence  to  attract  the  attention  of 
most  observers. 

A  number  of  the  leading  men  in  Japan  have  come  to  the 
realisation  thai  Japan's  opportunities  at  the  moment  are  so 
great  that  her  chief  danger  lies  in  the  fact  that  the  more 
mater'al  and  immediate  advantages  that  are  within  her 
grasp  are  not  the  real  best  fruits  to  be  gathered  from  so 
unique  a  situation.  These  men  are  sufficiently  far-sighted 
to  realise  that  the  development  of  a  world-wide  reputation 
for  fair  dealing  is  of  more  value  to  Japan  at  this  time 
than  much  gold  in  her  coffers;  they  can  see  that  a  re- 
moval of  the  feeling  of  antipathy  for  the  Japanese  and 
general  suspicion  of  them  from  the  minds  of  the  people  of 
China  is  of  greater  worth  to  Japan  than  many  concessions 
of  mining  rights. 

No  doubt  these  men  can  see,  too,  that  events  are  so 
shaping  themselves  that  patience  on  the  part  of  Japan  and 
the  Japanese  will  throw  into  their  hands  in  a  manner  above 
criticism  many  of  the  plums  for  which  they  might  be 
tempted  at  the  present  time  to  grab  in  a  manner  that  might 
be  open  to  condemnation  from  some  quarters. 

It  was  to  study  this  new  movement,  and  to  gain  some 
idea  of  the  extent  and  scope  of  Japan's  new  industrial  de- 
velopment, that  I  visited  Japan  and  the  Far  East  in  1916. 

Japan  is  ever  hospitable  to  the  visitor  in  search  of  in- 
formation as  to  her  development  and  progress.  Cabinet 
Ministers,  leaders  in  political  life,  and  diplomats  in  Tokyo 
gave  me  liberally  of  their  valuable  time.  Editors  and 
owners  of  the  most  influential  newspapers  throughout  the 
whole  Empire  were  cordial  and  patient.  The  leaders  of  the 
industrial  and  business  world,  at  the  kind  instance  of  the 
Ministry  of  Commerce,  spent  long  hours,  and  sometimes 
long  days,  satisfying  my  greed  for  detailed  information  and 
ocular  demonstration.  No  sooner  did  I  express  a  desire  to 
meet  some  particular  individual  than  I  was  at  once  put  in 


JAPAN'S  OPPORTUNITIES  3 

the  way  of  meeting  and  talking  to  him  to  my  lieart's  con- 
tent. With  very  few  exceptions,  those  factories,  mills  or 
works  of  all  sorts  that  I  particularly  desired  to  inspect  in 
the  limited  amount  of  time  at  my  disposal  opened  their 
doors  to  me  without  demur  and  showed  me  their  daily 
round. 

A  trip  up  the  Yangtse  Valley,  a  stay  in  Peking,  and  a 
few  days  in  the  more  prominent  towns  and  cities  of  Man- 
churia and  Korea,  capped  by  another  period  of  factory  in- 
spection in  such  centres  as  Osaka,  Kobe,  Kyoto,  Fukui, 
Nagoya,  Tokyo  and  their  various  environs,  taught  me 
something  of  what  Japan  is  doing  in  the  way  of  commercial 
and  industrial  development,  and  something,  too,  of  the 
plans  of  her  manufacturers  and  merchants.  Last,  but  by 
no  means  least,  it  gave  me  a  glimpse  of  the  methods  by 
which  Japan  is  proceeding  in  the  most  important  work 
she  has  yet  done  toward  winning  the  real  Mastery  of  the 
Pacific. 

I  have  no  particular  axe  to  grind,  save  that  I  wish  to 
help  that  part  of  the  world  that  is  busy  in  other  spheres  to 
know  and  to  realise  what  has  been  taking  place  in  the 
Orient.  From  the  industrial  conditions  in  the  Japan  of 
1916,  and  from  the  expression  of  convictions  and  deter- 
minations on  the  part  of  Japan's  most  representative  men  of 
more  than  one  class,  some  idea  of  the  trend  of  future  events 
may  perhaps  be  gleaned.  My  chief  interest  in  such  con- 
clusions is  to  see  that  the  facts  from  which  they  may  be 
drawn  are  real  facts. 


CHAPTER  II 

japan's  attitude  toward  china 

The  great,  undeveloped,  dormant  Empire  of  China  is 
Japan's  natural  field  of  development.  It  lies  at  her  very 
gates.  No  reasonable  man  will  deny  or  minimise  the  won- 
derful natural  advantages  of  Japan  in  the  race  for  commer- 
cial supremacy  in  China. 

Baron  Ishii,  while  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  in  the 
Okuma  Cabinet,  was  one  of  the  most  representative  of  the 
Japanese  politicians  with  whom  I  came  into  contact  in 
Tokyo.  He  is  a  man  of  a  very  pleasing  personality,  and 
impressed  me  as  belonging  to  that  type  of  advanced  Japa- 
nese thinkers  and  workers  who  were  conscientious  in  what 
they  said  and  honest  in  their  expressions  of  opinion. 

In  the  course  of  a  conversation  with  Baron  Ishii  one 
day  at  the  Foreign  Office  I  asked  him  if  he  would  be  good 
enough  to  give  me  his  opinion  of  the  idea  I  had  gleaned 
from  a  dozen  talks  with  the  real  leaders  of  thought  in 
Tokyo,  with  particular  reference  to  Japanese  aims  in  con- 
nection with  China  and  the  Chinese  question. 

He  said  he  would  be  glad  to  tell  me  just  what  he 
thought  of  how  far  I  was  right  in  having  caught  the  spirit 
of  those  with  whom  I  had  been  in  touch. 

I  told  him  I  found  that  the  more  weighty  and  im- 
portant element  in  Japanese  public  life  was  practically 
unanimous  that  Japan's  admitted  desires  regarding  China 
were  (a)  to  obtain  for  Japanese  as  much  opportunity  as  pos- 
sible to  develop  China's  natural  resources  and  thus  obtain 
China's  raw  material  for  Japan ;  (h)  to  secure  China  as  a 
retail  market  for  Japan's  manufactured  goods  to  the  greatest 
extent  possible,  and  (c)  to  secure  sure  and  speedy  advance 
for  China  as  a  nation  toward  development  and  power, 
deprecating  any  suggestion  of  partition  of  China  of  any 
sort,  and  always  careful  to  see  that  China  grew  strong  in 
such  manner  that  her  strength  would  be  a  bulwark  to  Japan 


JAPAN'S  ATTITUDE  TOWARD  CHINA       5 

against  aggression  from  Occidental  countries,  and  not  a 
menace  to  Japan.  To  amplify  the  last  clause,  Japan  might 
well  look  with  some  concern  upon  so  great  a  nation  as 
China  might  become,  if  the  feeling  of  China  were  antag- 
onistic to  Japan.  It  was  the  duty  of  Japan,  said  most  of 
my  Japanese  acquaintances,  for  Japan's  sake,  to  see  that 
the  coming  into  her  own  on  the  part  of  her  great  sister 
nation  should  proceed  along  such  lines  as  would  ensure 
co-operation  with  Japan. 

Baron  Ishii  at  once  told  me  that  I  had  caught  the  idea 
of  the  Japanese  quite  correctly  and  concisely. 

We  talked  at  some  length  of  what  I  termed  the  "  Intel- 
lectual Element  "  in  Japan.  By  this  term  I  grouped  the 
Japanese  who  had  a  more  broad  and  less  insular  outlook, 
irrespective  of  their  particular  party  standpoints,  upon  the 
question  of  Japan  and  her  relations  with  other  Powers.  He 
agreed  with  the  view  I  had  formed  that  the  Intellectual 
Element  in  Japan  was  not  likely  to  be  submerged  or  domi- 
nated by  the  Jingo  element,  obstreperous  as  that  faction 
had  sometimes  shown  itself  to  be. 

Everywhere  in  Japan  I  searched  for  some  party  or  fac- 
tion that  might  have  the  view  that  the  partition  of  China 
would  in  any  way  work  out  to  the  advantage  of  Japan. 
Nowhere  could  I  find  it.  To  keep  Japanese  commercial  pro- 
gress on  the  move  in  China  was  the  admitted  policy  of  all 
parties.  Some  disagreement  as  to  how  it  should  be  done 
was  at  times  discernible,  but  for  the  most  part  thinking 
Japanese  could  see  the  obvious  advantages  of  proceeding 
in  such  wise  that  China  would  grow  more  friendly  to  the 
Japanese  in  her  midst. 

Ishii  more  than  once  pointed  out  to  me  how  great  was 
the  scope  oT  the  new  policy  in  China,  the  policy  that  took 
into  consideration  the  feelings  and  susceptibilities  of  the 
Chinese  themselves.  The  geographical  location  of  Japan, 
the  cheapness  of  her  labour,  her  governmental  policy  of 
assistance  to  her  business  men,  the  fact  that  the  Japanese 
and  the  Chinese  have  the  same  written  language,  the  pos- 
session of  Korea  and  its  railways,  the  commercial  foothold 
gained  in  Manchuria  by  the  Japanese,  and,  above  all,  the 
fact  that  the  Japanese  are  Orientals  and  as  such  understand 
the  Chinese  better  than  an  Occidental  nation  and  its  peoples 
can  ever  hope  to  do,  were  points  chosen  as  texts  for  argu- 


6  THE  FAR  EAST  UNVEILED 

ments  that  Japan  was  bound  to  be  the  dominant  competitor 
for  the  trade  of  the  China  of  the  future. 

That  a  section  of  the  Japanese  was  impatient  that  so 
great  an  opportunity,  as  that  afforded  by  the  distraction  of 
other  nations  from  China  and  Chinese  affairs,  should  not 
be  the  excuse  in  itself  for  the  propagation  of  various 
schemes  for  increased  facility  and  privilege  for  Japanese 
commercial  enterprise  in  China  was  undeniable.  That  this 
element  was  by  no  means  to  be  despised  was  on  all  sides 
admitted,  but  no  apprehensions  were  voiced  that  the  Intel- 
lectual Element  would  ultimately  be  unable  to  hold  its  own, 
and  a  departure  be  made  from  lines  that  would  commend 
themselves  to  those  who  held  Japan's  good  name  among 
the  nations  of  the  earth  in  high  esteem. 

No  man  failed  to  remind  me  that  the  path  of  Japanese 
politics  is  a  devious  one.  Japan's  political  history  is  too 
young  as  yet,  so  far  as  her  efforts  toward  constitutional 
government  are  concerned,  to  make  her  own  sons  too  sure 
of  what  may  happen.  But  unless  some  great  change  of 
heart  takes  place  among  the  leading  men  of  all  parties  in 
Japan,  it  seems  fairly  sure  that  no  policy  will  be  followed 
that  will  not  have,  as  the  general  principle  behind  it,  the 
conquest  of  China  along  natural  commercial  and  indus- 
trial lines  as  distinct  from  any  aggressive  attitude  that 
would  tend  to  bring  upon  Japan  the  censure  or  disap- 
proval of  the  Western  world,  and  a  further  antagonism 
on  the  part  of  the  Chinese  themselves  toward  the  Japanese. 

So  much  for  the  general  lines  of  a  policy  that  seems 
to  have  truly  taken  strong  hold  on  an  important  section 
of  Japanese  thought.  That  the  other  nations  interested 
in  China,  its  progress  and  its  possibilities,  its  natural  re- 
sources and  its  foreign  trade,  should  be  unable  to  quarrel 
with  such  a  policy  in  the  abstract  is  possible,  but  the 
method  of  the  detailed  application  of  such  a  policy  is 
another  matter. 

Japan  has  declared  herself  an  advocate  of  the  Open 
Door  for  China.  One  may  talk  with  what  Japanese  states- 
man or  publicist  one  chooses,  and  one  invariably  finds  a 
firm  declaration  that  the  Open  Door  in  China  is  to  be 
maintained  by  the  Japanese  as  a  matter  of  course. 

It  is  to  this  question  that  the  most  importance  attaches. 
Japan's  right  to  a  peaceful  conquest  of  China  which  will 


JAPAN'S   ATTITUDE    TOWARD   CHINA      7 

give  her  commercial  domination  in  the  Chinese  Empire, 
with  China's  good  will  into  the  bargain  is  not  to  be  gain- 
said. But  if  Japan  were  to  use  such  domination  in  any- 
way unfairly  to  bar  the  door  to  the  industrial  and  com- 
mercial representatives  of  the  other  Powers  of  the  world, 
that  would  give  cause  for  great  concern  to  us  all.  Japan 
declares  herself  an  advocate  of  the  Open  Door.  How 
would  she  interpret  the  term  ?  We  naturally  turn  to 
Manchuria,  to  see  how  Japan  is  maintainijig  the  Open 
Door  policy  there.  It  seems  fair  to  conclude  that  Japan 
will  keep  the  door  of  other  parts  of  China  open,  once 
she  has  domination  commercially  in  various  districts,  in 
much  the  same  way  she  is  doing  in  Manchuria. 


CHAPTER  III. 

CONCERNING  THE  OPEN   DOOR 

Perhaps  the  most  natural  source  for  information  as 
to  the  foreign  policy  of  a  Government  is  its  Foreign 
Minister. 

After  sounding  many  avenues  of  thought  and  opinion 
in  Japan  as  to  Japan's  aspirations  and  intentions  in 
Manchuria  I  asked  Baron  Ishii,  as  the  Minister  of  Foreign 
Affairs  of  the  Government  in  office,  what  he  could  and 
would  tell  me  of  the  policy  of  Japan  in  Manchuria  with 
particular  reference  to  the  Open  Door. 

"Japan  certainly  is  maintaining  and  intends  to  maintain 
the  Open  Door  in  Manchuria,"  said  Baron  Ishii. 

In  course  of  conversation  I  pointed  out  that  there  was 
a  very  large  number  of  Englishmen  and  Americans  in 
the  Far  East  who  did  not  consider  that  Japan  was  keeping 
the  door  open  in  Manchuria,  at  least  not  sufficiently  wide 
open  so  that  any  but  Japanese  could  squeeze  through. 

Ishii  said  most  stories  to  that  effect  were  vague  and 
of  a  most  general  character — so  much  so,  in  fact,  that 
it  was  impossible  to  trace  their  correctness  or  other- 
wise. 

He  spoke  of  the  many  advantages  under  which  Japa- 
nese business  men  in  Manchuria  operated  as  against  the 
handicaps  that  the  commercial  men  of  the  West  had  to 
face  in  that  part  of  the  world.  The  predominant  numbers 
of  the  Japanese,  the  fact  that  Japanese  operated  the  rail- 
ways and  that  the  Japanese  language  was  used  thereupon, 
the  ability  of  the  Japanese  to  understand  the  written  lan- 
guage of  the  Manchurians,  the  better  understanding  of 
the  characteristics  as  well  as  the  material  wants  of  the 
Manchurians  which  came  to  the  Japanese  as  fellow- 
Orientals,  the  admitted  assistance  which  it  is  Japan's  policy 
to  give  to  her  business  men  in  many  ways,  as  well  as  a  base 
of  supplies  near  at  hand,  connected  with  Manchuria  by 


CONCERNING    THE    OPEN    DOOR  9 

Japanese  shipping  lines  that  were  themselves  subsidised 
by  the  Government,  were  all  instances  of  the  natural 
advantages  under  which  the  Japanese  in  Manchuria  were 
working. 

"Our  industries  and  our  commerce  are  many  years 
behind  the  industries  and  commerce  of  older  lands,"  said 
Baron  Ishii.  "Is  it  not  right  and  proper  that  the  Govern- 
ment should  foster  their  development  in  every  legitimate 
way  ?  " 

He  admitted  that  railway  rebates  favoured  the  Japanese 
in  Manchuria,  but  was  firm  in  his  declaration  that  this 
was  solely  due  to  the  fact  that  the  railways  gave  certain 
reduced  rates  for  certain  volumes  of  shipment.  If  the 
Japanese  shipped  more  goods  in  one  consignment  than 
their  competitors  they  reaped  the  benefit  of  better  rates. 
All  this,  according  to  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  was 
open  and  above  board,  admitted  and  there  for  everyone 
to  see  and  equally  for  everyone,  Japanese,  Englishman  or 
American,  to  take  advantage  of  if  he  could. 

Without  wishing  to  appear  contradictory,  I  pressed  the 
fact  that  continuous  reports  from  foreign  business  men 
who  had  dealings  in  Manchuria  alleged  that  favouritism 
of  other,  less  open  and  less  fair,  character  was  given  to 
Japanese  traders.  Where  there  was  so  much  smoke  and 
where  it  was  so  continuously  and  consistently  forthcoming, 
I  argued,  was  it  not  likely  that  there  might  be  found  some 
fire? 

Ishii  at  once  admitted  that  one  who  sat  in  Tokyo  might 
sometimes  be  unaware  of  detailed  actions  of  individuals 
so  far  away  as  Manchuria.  "Frankly,"  he  said,  "I  am 
just  as  anxious  to  know  of  any  such  thing,  if  it  exists, 
as  you  are.  You  are  going  to  Manchuria.  You  knew 
something  of  it  under  the  Russian  regime.  You  will  be 
able  to  judge  for  yourself  something  of  the  progress  we 
have  made  and  of  the  progress  the  country  has  made  under 
our  direction. 

"Watch  closely  for  signs  of  unfair  treatment  of 
Western  business  men  and  Western  business  houses  in 
Manchuria,  and  tell  me  what  you  find.  I  will  see  that 
you  have  every  facility  that  we  can  give  you  to  find  the 
truth.  I  will  provide  you  with  letters  to  the  Governor- 
General    of    Manchuria    and    the    Governor-General    of 


10  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

Chosen  (Korea),  and  they  will  be  glad  to  show  you  every- 
thing you  wish  to  see." 

I  told  Baron  Ishii  that  Baron  Shibusawa,  the  veteran 
banker  of  Japan,  had  given  me  letters  to  the  heads  of  the 
South  Alanchurian  Railway  and  the  Bank  of  Chosen 
respectively,  and  that  I  would  bear  with  me  to  Manchuria 
letters  to  the  managers  of  the  most  prominent  British  and 
American  business  houses  established  there,  letters 
written  by  the  men  who  controlled  the  policies  of  such 
businesses  in  the  Far  East.  Therefore  I  would  have  a 
fair  chance  to  hear  all  sides  of  the  question. 

"You  may  tell  your  American  and  English  friends," 
said  Ishii,  "that  if  they  can  convince  you  to  your  entire 
satisfaction  that  they  are  being  handicapped  in  the  pro- 
secution of  their  business  by  what  they  and  you  would 
call  unfair  measures  on  the  part  of  Japanese  officials,  on 
the  railways  or  elsewhere,  you  will  return  to  Tokyo 
and  lay  the  matter,  chapter  and  verse,  before  me.  You 
can  tell  them  further  that  if  any  unfair  practices  are  in 
vogue,  and  you  can  put  the  proof  of  the  fact  before  me, 
I  promise  to  stop  them  at  once  and  punish  the  offenders. 
That  will  afford  you  the  best  proof  that  I  am  conscientious 
in  a  desire  to  see  Japan  pursue  an  actual  Open  Door  policy 
in  Manchuria,  will  it  not  ?  " 

"Remember,"  he  continued,  "there  is  a  difference  be- 
tween perfectly  legitimate  encouragement  of  Japanese  trade 
and  unfair  measures.  Any  advantages  given  by  the 
Government  to  Japanese  traders  are  only  legitimate  when 
they  are  perfectly  frank  and  above  board  and  are  quite 
publicly  granted.  I  shall  be  much  interested  to  see  you 
on  your  return  to  Japan,  and  will  not  hesitate  to  go 
thoroughly  into  any  matter  which  you  may  wish  to  bring 
before  me." 

That  sounded  fair  enough  to  suit  the  most  exacting 
critic.  A  few  weeks  afterwards  Marquis  Okuma  and  his 
Cabinet  resigned,  and  the  appointment  of  Viscount  Kato 
to  the  Premiership,  which  would  no  doubt  have  meant 
the  retention  of  the  Ministry  of  Foreign  Affairs  by  Baron 
Ishii,  failed  to  materialise  as  planned  by  Okuma  and  his 
immediate  followers. 

As  I  started  on  my  journey  through  China,  Manchuria 
and  Korea,   however,   I  came  to  the  conclusion  that  any 


CONCERNING    THE    OPEN    DOOR         n 

discoveries  I  might  maiie  or  any  data  I  might  collect 
would  be  interesting  to  others  than  the  Foreign  Minister 
of  Japan. 

I  thought,  too,  that  a  certain  amount  of  study  of  the 
past  history  of  the  sort  of  Open  Door  that  Japan  has 
maintained  in  Manchuria  since  she  took  a  lease  of  a  part 
of  that  province  from  China,  relieving  Russia  from  certain 
privileges  as  a  natural  concomitant  of  tlie  result  of  the 
Russo-Japanese  War,  would  help  me  the  better  to  appre- 
ciate conditions  in  Manchuria  in   1916. 

With  that  idea  in  view  I  obtained  access  to  various 
records,  official  and  otherwise,  but  all  authentic  beyond 
all  doubt,  which  gave  interesting  sidelights  on  Japan's 
previous  view-points  as  to  the  meaning  to  her  of  the  Open 
Door,  and  what  she  thought  it  was  her  duty  and  her 
interest  to  do  toward  adherence  to  the  much-discussed 
policy. 


CHAPTER  IV 

ANTICIPATION    IN    IQOS 

In  1907  and  1908  British  merchants  in  the  Far  East  were 
much  perturbed  by  the  action  of  Japan  in  Manchuria. 

More  than  one  effort  was  made  to  get  detailed  informa- 
tion that  would  lead  to  some  discovery  of  overt  action  on 
the  part  of  the  Japanese  to  which  some  definite  complaint 
could  be  tied. 

After  considerable  research  I  found  reports  of  various 
bodies  and  departments  bearing  on  this  general  subject. 
To  quote  from  some  of  these  reports  will  give  the  reader 
an  opportunity  to  judge  for  himself  how  much  or  how 
little  the  investigations  of  those  early  days  of  Japanese 
occupancy  proved  the  allegations  that  Japan  was  not 
adhering  to  the  policy  of  the  Open  Door  in  Manchuria. 

"It  is  extremely  difficult,"  said  one  carefully  com- 
piled report,  "in  a  distant  country  like  Manchuria,  to 
get  chapter  and  verse  for  specific  cases  of  obstruction  to 
trade.  The  Japanese  are  far  too  clever  to  allow  definite 
cases  to  arise  in  which  clear  evidence  can  be  quoted  against 
them.  As  the  trade  is  almost  entirely  in  the  hands  of 
Chinese  and  their  own  people,  they  doubtless  feel  a  con- 
siderable degree  of  confidence  that  evidence  of  their  action 
towards  foreign  trade  cannot  be  produced. 

"We  have,  however,  the  evidence  of  captains  of  local 
British  steamers  trading  to  Dairen  (Dalny),  complaining 
time  after  time  of  obstacles  being  put  in  the  way  of  their 
ships,  delay  in  allotting  berths  to  them,  only  allowing  them 
a  limited  time  at  the  wharf,  curtailing  the  hours  during 
which  loading  or  discharging  is  permitted,  and  pointing 
out  that  Japanese  steamers  can  work  under  much  more 
favourable  conditions  than  British. 

'.'.The  discharging  of  steamers  is  under  the  control  of 
the  Japanese  railway  administration,  and  it  is  therefore 
a   reasonable   assumption    that    if   unnecessary   difficulties 

12 


I 


ANTICIPATION    IN    1908  13 

are  put  in  the  way  of  handling  merchandise  at  the  port 
of  landing,  more  favourable  treatment  will  not  be  accorded 
to  it  in  the  interior.  Imports  of  English  and  American 
goods  into  Manchuria  are  very  much  smaller  than  formerly, 
when  competition  was  open  and  free.  A  syndicate  of 
Japanese  manufacturers  has  been  formed  to  exploit  this 
trade,  and  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  it  has  the  active 
support  and  patronage  of  the  Japanese  Government.  The 
Government  authorised  advances  to  this  syndicate  of 
5,000,000  yen  (say  ^500,000)  at  4  per  cent,  per  annum, 
and  a  like  amount  at  4^  per  cent,  per  annum,  rates  of 
interest  lower  than  that  at  which  the  Government  itself 
has  borrowed,  and  considerably  under  the  rate  of  interest 
charged  by  foreign  banks.  Special  rates  of  freight  have 
been  arranged  by  Japanese  shipping  companies  for  carry- 
ing cotton  goods  from  Osaka  to  Dalny.  Although  the 
railway  administration  was  not  in  a  position  to  allow  a 
discount  on  freight  directly  to  the  syndicate,  the  Japanese 
Press  states  that  it  accorded  '  certain  facilities '  for  the 
transportation  of  syndicate  goods." 

And  so  I  could  continue  to  quote  for  pages  and  pages. 
Considerable  generality,  but  little  chapter  and  verse. 

A  statement  from  a  high  authority,  recorded  in  March, 
1908,  spoke  of  the  situation  in  Manchuria  as  follows : 
"There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  Japanese  and  Russians 
are  both  trying  to  take  a  firm  hold  in  their  respective 
spheres.  Strong  evidence  of  that  fact  is  to  be  seen.  Both 
nations  are  turning  the  settlements  along  the  railway, 
which  in  some  cases  are  very  long,  and  in  nearly  all 
cases  are  the  only  sites  available  for  foreign  residence, 
practically  into  foreign  concessions  under  their  rule  and 
control.  Both  at  Harbin  and  at  Antung  the  area  is  very 
considerable,  many  square  miles  at  the  former  place,  and 
under  such  circumstances  it  can  hardly  be  successfully 
maintained  that  the  principle  of  the  Open  Door  is  being 
honestly  carried  out." 

An  interesting  sidelight  on  the  discussion  of  this  matter 
in  1908  is  the  record  of  an  interview  between  the  president 
of  the  most  important  business  associations  and  a  very 
astute  and  able  Minister  of  a  Great  Power  in  Peking. 

The  Minister  said  he  had  discussed  the  question  of 
Japanese  action   in   Manchuria  with  that  member  of  the 


14  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

Cabinet  of  his  Home  Government  to  whose  department 
such  matters  belonged.  "I  am  of  the  opinion,"  he  said, 
"that  if  sufficient  reliable  evidence  could  be  produced  that 
Japan  is  discriminating  against  the  goods  from  my 
country,  there  would  be  little  doubt  that  the  Department 
of  State  concerned  would  lose  no  time  in  making  represen- 
tations to  Japan  on  the  subject.  I  personally  could  not 
say  to  the  Secretar}^  that  I  had  proof  to  lay  before  the 
Department.  No  one  has  laid  any  clear  evidence  before 
me  which  would  justify  making  representations  to  Japan. 
On  my  arrival  in  China  I  found  a  general  feeling  amongst 
my  countrymen  more  or  less  antagonistic  to  Japan,  but 
when  I  asked  for  proof  of  their  contention  that  the  Open 
Door  policy  was  not  being  carried  out,  nothing  definite 
was  forthcoming." 

After  discussing  the  matter  from  all  its  standpoints 
and  at  considerable  length,  the  Minister  reminded  his 
interlocutor  that  "some  allowances  ought  to  be  made  for 
Japan ;  that  she  had  no  outlet  for  her  surplus  population  ; 
that  she  could  not  colonise  Manchuria,  as  the  Chinese 
could  underbid  Japanese  in  the  labour  market;  that  Korea 
was  a  mountainous  country  in  which  there  was  little  scope 
for  surplus  population,  and  that  therefore  it  was  only 
natural  that  Japan  should  make  great  efforts  to  establish 
her  export  trade."  That  Minister  could  certainly  see 
things  from  both  sides. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  investigations  in  1908  took 
place  in  June  of  that  3^ear.  The  report  that  followed 
stated  broadly  that  "Russia  and  Japan  are  both  claiming 
a  privileged  position  in  Manchuria  which  is  at  variance 
alike  in  spirit  and  letter  to  the  Treaty  of  Portsmouth." 

"For  example,"  continued  this  report,  "the  conditions 
upon  which  all  foreigners  may  acquire  the  right  to  reside, 
hold  property  and  carry  on  business  within  the  precincts 
of  the  territory  of  the  railway  are  as  complete  a  negation 
of  the  Open  Door  as  could  be  expressed  in  words."  Those 
conditions  are  too  lengthy  to  admit  of  full  quotation,  but 
one  who  reads  them  must  needs  agree  with  the  report, 
particularly  when  it  read  thus  :  "Japan  not  only  exercises 
what  is  practically  absolute  authority  within  the  railway 
zone,  but  &lso  claims  absolute  power  in  the  large  areas 
which  she  has  occupied  at  all  the  chief  centres  of  trade  in 


ANTICIPATION    IN    1908  15 

Manchuria,  including  the  right  of  domiciliary  search  and 
distrainment  in  Manchuria.  The  position,  then,  amounts 
to  this  :  that  Japan  and  Russia  between  them  have  virtually 
annexed  the  sole  avenues  of  communication  between  Man- 
churia and  the  outside  world,  and  have  brought  large  areas 
at  the  principal  commercial  stations  under  their  sole 
jurisdiction." 

Finally  this  report  concludes:  "It  is  quite  clear 
that  if  Japan  insists  on  all  districts  in  Manchuria  being 
served  only  by  subsidiary  lines  connecting  with  the  Man- 
churian  Railway,  she  is  taking  up  the  position  that  Man- 
churia can  only  be  developed  through  her  agency.  That 
may  be  held  to  be  the  Open  Door,  as  access  to  the  country 
would  not  be  closed,  but  it  would  be  the  Open  Door  with 
a  Japanese  sentry  in  the  portal,  and  development  on  these 
lines  means  that  by  the  hundred-and-one  methods  known 
to  Eastern  administrations  the  spirit  of  the  Portsmouth 
Treaty  will  not  be  carried  out  in  practice.  The  trades 
which  will  feel  the  effect  of  the  change  most  will  be  cotton 
goods  and  yarn  from  America,  England  and  India.  Ex- 
perience has  shown  how  the  Japanese  extinguished  the 
Bombay  trade  with  their  own  country  by  a  stroke  of  the 
pen  after  the  China-Japanese  War,  and  if  Manchuria  comes 
under  their  control  we  have  no  reason  to  expect  different 
treatment  there." 

The  fact  that,  as  the  year  of  1908  wore  on,  Japan  occu- 
pied large  areas  wherein  she  not  only  exercised  full 
administrative  rights,  but  claimed  entire  jurisdiction  over 
all  nationals,  was  alleged  in  frequent  reports  as  time 
passed. 

One  report  said  gravely  :  "  It  is  not  an  unlikely  con- 
tingency that  Manchuria  from  north  to  south  will  be 
intersected  by  a  strip  of  alien  territory  which  there  is 
nothing,  at  any  rate  in  international  law,  to  prevent  from 
exercising  an  undue  influence  upon,  and  even  of  becom- 
ing an  insurmountable  obstacle  to,  the  natural  development 
of  the  three  Eastern  Provinces  of  China.  Moreover,  these 
alien  strips  of  territory  are  irreconcilable  with  ihe  integritv 
of  China,  and  in  the  administrative,  if  not  also  in  the 
commercial  sense,  are  wholly  repugnant  to  the  frequently 
avowed  principle  of  equal  opportunity." 

So  much  for  anticipation  in  1908. 


i6  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

A  few  weeks  in  Manchuria  in  igi6  should  allow  me,  I 
thought,  given  the  best  avenues  of  information  from  the 
different  points  of  view,  to  get  some  idea  as  to  what  extent 
the  anticipations  had  been  realised. 

Had  Japan  kept  the  Open  Door  in  Manchuria  ? 

Surely,  was  my  conclusion,  Manchuria  itself  could  best 
answer  the  question. 

So  to  Manchuria  I  resolved  to  go. 


CHAPTER    V 

AN   ANTI-BRITISH   PRESS   CAMPAIGN 

"No  Englishman  will  ever  forget  the  anti-British  cam- 
paign in  the  Japanese  Press  when  Britain  was  fighting 
for  her  life." 

The  speaker  was  one  of  the  most  prominent  English- 
men in  the  Far  East.  His  voice  vibrated  with  emotion  as 
he  spoke,  though  his  tone  was  low  and  his  manner  quiet 
and  thoughtful.  My  attention  was  held  by  his  earnest- 
ness. I  knew  he  was  not  given  to  impulsive  and  careless 
utterances. 

"I  have  been  given  to  understand  by  prominent 
Japanese,"  I  said,  "that  the  Press  campaign  that  criticised 
England  so  severely  and  advocated  the  abrogation  or 
sweeping  revision  of  the  Anglo-Japanese  Treaty  emanated 
from  and  was  conducted  by  a  most  irresponsible  section  of 
the  Press." 

"That  is  not  true,"  was  the  reply.  "The  paper  that 
began  the  business  was  the  Yamato,  a  Tokyo  paper  that 
certainly  could  not  be  termed  a  particularly  influential  one. 
But  the  rest  of  the  Press  of  Tokyo,  with  hardly  an  excep- 
tion, joined  in  the  hue  and  cry.  Are  you  so  surprised  that 
we  felt  it  deeply?  Is  it  not  natural  that  we  should  look  for 
friendly  sympathy  from  an  ally  at  a  time  we  were  engrossed 
in  a  struggle  for  our  very  existence  ?  Is  it  to  be  wondered 
at  that  when  we  received  a  stab  in  the  back,  instead  of  the 
support  for  which  we  had  a  right  to  look,  the  knife  should 
go  deep  and  leave  a  nasty  scar?  " 

That  those  unfamiliar  with  the  Press  campaign  that 
caused  so  much  heartburning  among  the  more  thoughtful 
of  the  English  residents  of  Japan  may  grasp  its  full  'mean- 
ing, I  quote  the  following  paragraphs  from  a  pamphlet  of 
English  authorship  published  in  Tokyo  as  an  answer  to  a 
Japanese  magazine  article  on  the  subject. 

"Article  VI,  of  the  Anglo-Japanese  Agreement  says, 
c  17 


i8  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

'  The  present  Agreement  will  remain  in  force  for  ten  years 
(from  191 1).'  The  same  Article  continues:  '  If  when  the 
date  for  its  expiration  arrives,  either  Ally  is  engaged  in  war 
the  Alliance  shall  continue  until  peace  is  declared.'  Nothing 
would  seem  to  be  plainer. 

"The  ordinary  newspaper  reader  throughout  the  world 
interprets  the  present  agitation  in  Japan  for  the  abrogation 
of  the  Anglo-Japanese  Agreement  as  : 

"(i)  An  attempt  to  get  rid  of  an  Agreement  which  has 
not  run  for  more  than  half  the  number  of  years  contracted 
for. 

"(2)  An  attempt  to  get  rid  of  it  in  war  time,  which  it 
had  been  expressly  agreed  should  not  be  done. 

"(3)  An  attempt  to  get  rid  of  it  because  some  Japanese 
think  that  Japan  could  do  better  for  herself  in  China  if  no 
Agreement  existed. 

"(4)  An  attempt  to  get  rid  of  it  because  some  Japanese 
think  Great  Britain  is  not  doing  well  in  the  war  or  is  not 
going  to  do  well.  In  other  words,  that  the  attitude  of  the 
Japanese  will  be  different  when  the  British  Navy  wipes  out 
the  German  Fleet,  or  when  Germany  is  driven  out  of 
France. 

"(5)  An  attempt  to  get  rid  of  it  which  continued  for 
many  months  without,  apparently,  being  reproved." 

The  writer  of  the  pamphlet  from  which  I  have  quoted 
the  foregoing  paragraphs  included  in  this  publication,  as  a 
conclusion,  the  following  declaration  from  Marquis  Okuma, 
the  Premier  :  "It  is  true  that  recently  a  small  section  of  the 
Japanese  Press  has  taken  a  stand  that  might  be  regarded 
as  anti-British.  But  a  so-called  anti-British  sentiment  is 
confined  to  an  extremely  limited  circle,  and  the  vast 
majority  of  the  people  of  this  country  and  of  the  Press  of 
Japan  is  extremely  friendly  to  England  and  the  Allies.  I 
assert  positively,  without  any  fear  of  successful  contradic- 
tion, that  Japan  is  loyal  to  her  alliance,  friendly  to  Great 
Britain  and  faithful  to  all  her  undertakings.  The  Anglo- 
Japanese  Alliance  is  just  as  strong  to-day  as  ever  it  was." 

A  statement  by  Baron  Ishii,  as  Foreign  Minister,  was 
also  quoted.  It  read  :  "In  normal  times,  with  a  world  at 
peace,  arguments  and  discussions  over  the  terms  and  con- 
ditions of  existing  international  treaties  are  permissible. 
But  now,  with  the  world  at  war,  with  our  friend  and  Ally 


AN    ANTI.BRITISH    PRESS    CAMPAIGN     19 

engaging  a  relentless  enemy,  is  not  the  time  for  such  dis- 
cussion or  dissension.  The  Frenchman  has  an  expression 
which  fits  the  case — Noblesse  oblige — and  so  it  will  be  with 
Japan  while  this  war  lasts  and  afterward." 

That  was  the  line  taken  by  the  best  element  in  Japan — • 
what  I  like  to  term  the  Intellectual  Element. 

Having  heard  more  than  one  view  of  the  anti-British 
Press  campaign,  I  decided  that  it  would  be  interesting  to 
find  out  at  first  hand  what  was  the  view  of  the  editors  of 
the  papers  themselves.  To  that  end,  and  to  see  what 
manner  of  man  occupied  the  editorial  desks  of  the  leading 
Tokyo  papers,  I  obtained  introductions  to  half  a  dozen  of 
the  most  prominent  journalists  and  editors  in  Japan. 

There  are  a  score  of  daily  papers  in  Tokyo,  but  six  of 
them  stand  out  distinct  from  the  ruck.  Most  prominent 
and  weighty  with  the  thinking  and  upper  classes  is  the 
conservative  Asahi.  The  Asahi  did  not  join  in  the  attack 
on  the  British  and  the  British  Alliance,  so  its  editor,  Mr. 
Matsuyama,  told  me. 

Next  in  influence  with  the  intellectual  element  comes 
the  Jiji  Shimbun.  Its  editor,  Mr.  Ishikawa,  told  me  he 
was  a  frank  critic  of  Okuma,  particularly  with  regard  to  the 
Premier's  policy  with  reference  to  China.  Mr.  Ishikawa 
and  his  paper  were  not  among  those  which  advocated  the 
abrogation  of  the  Anglo-Japanese  Treaty,  so  he  said.  He 
was  critical  of  some  of  the  actions  of  the  British  in  the  Far 
East,  but  was  by  no  means  anti-British  in  the  broad 
sense. 

The  Nichi-Nichi  Shimbun  of  Tokyo  has,  perhaps,  the 
largest  circulation  of  any  daily  paper  in  the  capital.  It  is 
a  paper  that  openly  appeals  to  the  masses.  One  of  its  most 
prominent  leader  writers  told  me  that  the  policy  of  the 
paper  was  frequently  dictated  on  certain  subjects  by  the 
Dai-Nichi  Shimbun  of  Osaka,  which  is  operated  under  the 
same  ownership  and  is  one  of  the  most  influential  papers 
in  Japan.  The  editor  of  the  Nichi-Nichi  seemed  to  pos- 
sess somewhat  less  personality  than  some  of  his 
colleagues,  who  are  most  of  them  strong  men  who  hold 
opinions  of  their  own.  The  Nichi-Nichi  published  two  very 
anti-British  articles  during  the  campaign  against  England. 
These  were  directed  from  the  Dai-Nichi  office  in  Osaka, 
which  was  violently  anti-British. 


20  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

The  Kokumm  is  one  of  the  leading  papers  in  Tokyo. 
It  is  a  free  lance  in  politics.  "I  tilt,"  said  the  editor,  Mr. 
Tokutomi,  "at  whatever  I  like  to  assail.  I  am  a  great  ad- 
mirer of  Marquis  Okuma,  for  instance,  but  I  assume  the 
role  of  what  you  would  call  his  candid  friend."  No  one 
could  meet  Mr.  Tokutomi  without  liking  him.  More  bril- 
liant than  many  of  his  colleagues,  I  should  think  him  more 
likely  to  go  off  at  a  tangent  once  in  a  while.  He  said  he 
did  not  think  the  anti-British  campaign  assumed  so  much 
importance  as  it  was  given  by  Englishmen  in  the  Far  East. 
He  admitted  friction  between  Japanese  and  English  in  the 
Orient,  but  discussed  it  rationally.  He  said  his  paper 
was  quite  as  apt  to  criticise  the  British  as  the  Japanese.  He 
declared,  to  my  surprise,  that  he  took  no  active  part  in  the 
campaign  started  by  the  Yamato.  He  had  campaigns  of 
his  own  to  engage  his  attention,  he  said.  Tokutomi  is 
plainly  a  law  unto  itself,  and  has  much  sound  common 
sense.  But  he  was  mixed  up  in  the  anti-British  campaign 
for  all  his  lack  of  memory  on  the  subject. 

The  Hochi,  of  which  Dr.  Soyeda  is  editor,  has  a 
wide  circulation  in  Tokyo,  which  it  used  to  spread  any- 
thing but  sober  counsel  at  the  time  of  the  anti-British  con- 
troversy. While  it  was  not  so  rabid  as  some  of  the  less 
responsible  and  less  important  papers,  it  published  articles 
which  showed  that  its  heart  was  by  no  means  in  the  right 
place.  It  came  into  line  in  a  very  different  spirit,  however, 
subsequently. 

The  other  newspaper  of  the  six  Tokyo  dailies  that  have 
widespread  influence  is  the  Yorodzu.  Many  of  the 
articles  that  the  Yorodzu  published  when  the  anti- 
British  campaign  was  on,  might  be  called  anti-British  by 
some  and  pro-Japanese  by  others.  It  is  prone  to  hammer 
hard  at  the  attitude  towards  the  Japanese  in  Canada  and 
Australia.    Here  is  a  sample  : 

"What  Is  the  attitude  of  England  to  Japan?  It  is  not  a 
proper  one.  The  attitude  of  the  home  country  of  the  British 
may  not  necessarily  be  improper,  but  the  attitude  of  the  British 
colonies  is  indeed  very  insulting  to  the  Japanese.  In  Australia, 
South  Africa  and  Canada  the  Japanese  are  being  excluded 
publicly.  Should  not  the  British  people  be  ashamed  of  them- 
selves to  give  us  such  cold  treatment,  when  our  attitude  is  so 
faithful  to  them?  " 


AN   ANTI-BRITISH    PRESS   CAMPAIGN     21 

This,  too,  is  a  fair  sample  of  what  the  Yorodzu  thinks^ 
good  editorial  matter  for  its  readers  : 

'*  In  China  the  Englishmen  take  an  anti-Japanese  attitude, 
to  our  great  chagrin.  The  anti-Japanese  attitude  in  India  is 
also  an  unwise  thing  for  the  Englishmen.  But  the  British 
anti-Japanese  attitude  in  China  and  India  is  shown  covertly 
rather  than  overtly.  In  Australia,  South  Africa  and  Canada 
the  English  are  clearly  insulting  the  Japanese.  Is  it  not  a 
haughty  attitude  to  exclude  one's  friends  when  these  friends 
have  been  helping  one  while  one  was  in  trouble?  We  cannot 
understand  the  attitude  of  the  civilised  Englishmen.  Unless 
an  improvement  is  made  in  this  respect,  the  Japanese  patience 
must  soon  be  exhausted.  To-day,  when  we  have  shown  loyalty 
to  our  pledges  toward  England  it  is  a  most  opportune  time  to 
deal  with  this  matter." 

On  every  side  I  found,  so  far  as  Tokyo  was  concerned, 
that  most  Japanese  considered  no  paper  outside  the  six  I 
have  particularly  mentioned  cut  any  special  figure. 

Continually  I  met  Japanese  in  high  places  who  deplored 
the  fact  that  papers  of  little  weight  in  Japan  were  quoted 
abroad  as  though  they  represented  Japanese  public  opinion- 

Thus  the  matter  stood  in  Japan. 

The  Japanese  admitted  that  an  anti-British  Press  cam- 
paign, advocating  openly  the  abrogation  or  revolutionary 
revision  of  the  Anglo-Japanese  Treaty,  took  place  in  Japan 
at  a  time  when  Britain  was  at  war.  But  they  minimised  the 
importance  of  the  papers  that  took  part  in  it,  declared  it 
was  aimed  against  the  English  in  the  Far  East  rather  than 
against  Britain  as  a  Power,  and  said  the  obscure  Press  was 
out  from  under  any  real  control  and  not  worth  bothering 
one's  head  a5"out. 

The  Englishmen  in  Japan  did  not  pass  over  the  subject 
so  lightly.  The  quieter  the  Englishman  the  more  deeply 
he  felt  the  disloyalty  of  the  attack. 

The  fact  that  the  campaign  took  place  did  not  tend  to 
better  feeling  between  Japanese  and  English  in  the  Far 
East.  That  is  a  pity,  for  the  feeling,  without  such  ex- 
traneous aids  to  make  it  bitter,  was  quite  sufficiently 
unsympathetic  one  for  the  other. 


CHAPTER  VI 

ON     ENGLISHMEN     IN     THE     ORIENT 

I  WAS  talking  to  a  prominent  member  of  Marquis  Okuma's 
Cabinet  in  Tokyo,  not  long  before  Okuma's  resignation  of 
the  Premiership,  when  the  subject  of  the  friction  between 
Englishmen  and  Japanese  came  up. 

"To  what  do  you  attribute,"  I  asked,  "the  prejudice 
against  the  Japanese  on  the  part  of  the  English  business 
men  in  the  Far  East  of  which  one  hears  so  frequently  in 
Japan  ?  I  have  heard  so  many  Japanese  mention  it,  that  I 
have  come  to  look  upon  it  almost  as  a  matter  of  course. 
You  are  a  broadminded  man  and  can  look  at  such  a  subject 
from  both  sides.  Is  there  any  real  friction  between  English 
business  men  in  the  Far  East  and  Japanese  business  men, 
as  a  class  ?  " 

"I  think  you  may  take  it  that  there  is  a  general  feeling 
of  antagonism  on  both  sides,"  was  the  reply. 

"To  what  do  you  attribute  it,  chiefly?"  I  queried. 

"It  is  a  big  question  to  deal  with  in  a  sentence,"  said 
the  Cabinet  Minister.  "My  own  feeling  about  the  English 
business  men  in  the  Far  East  is  that  it  is  hard  for  them  to 
realise  that  the  old  golden  days  of  English  trade  in  the 
Orient  have  gone  for  ever.  Business  houses  that  for  many, 
many  years  have  had  things  pretty  much  their  own  way  in 
China,  for  instance,  have  been  faced  with  new  conditions 
under  which  they  have  seen  their  trade  dwindling  down  to 
a  mere  shadow  of  what  it  once  was.  It  is  hard  for  them, 
and  they  do  not  take  it  kindly.  Long  priority  of  establish- 
ment gave  many  of  them  the  not  unnatural  feeling  that 
they  were  what  I  might  call  lords  of  the  soil.  They  are 
confronted  to-day  with  a  class  of  competition,  some  of  it 
Japanese,  most  of  it  Japanese  in  some  quarters,  which  is 
particularly  galling,  because  it  seems  utterly  hopeless  for 
them  to  try  to  compete  successfully  against  it.  And  the 
fact  of  the  matter  is,   that  such  competition   is  in   many 

22 


ON    ENGLISHMEN    IN    THE    ORIENT       23 

instances    quite    beyond    them.     They    have    no    chance 
against  it." 

"Vou  really  think  that  the  root  of  the  dislike  for  the 
Japanese  on  the  part  of  the  English  in  Chinese  treaty  ports 
is  the  successful  competition  of  the  Japanese  traders?" 

"I  think  that  is  the  fundamental  reason.  Local  causes 
may  exist  here  and  there.  Individual  actions  play  their 
part.  But  the  broad  cause  is  British  disappointment  that 
their  paramount  position  is  being  assailed,  and  in  some 
cases  assailed  successfully,  by  the  Japanese." 

"  What,  then,  in  turn,  is  the  principal  reason  for  the 
Japanese  feeling  against  the  Britisher  in  the  Far  East  on 
the  part  of  sucn  a  considerable  section  here  in  Japan  ?  I 
have  repeatedly  been  given  to  understand  that  the  anti- 
British  Press  campaign  in  Japan  during  the  war,  that  ran 
on  for  many  months,  was  primarily  engendered  by  a 
Japanese  resentment  against  the  British  in  the  East,  as 
distinct  from  the  English  at  home." 

"The  reason  for  the  feeling  against  the  English  in  the 
East  is  largely  due  to  the  continuous  hostility  of  the 
English  to  the  Japanese,  especially  in  China  and  India. 
The  English  in  China  are  so  openly  anti-Japanese  as  to 
cause  natural  resentment.  They  think  themselves  so  much 
better  than  the  Japanese,  and  lose  so  few  opportunities  of 
showing  that  feeling,  that  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that 
bad  feeling  is  caused." 

After  dozens  of  talks  on  the  subject  with  men  of  many 
nationalities  and  shades  of  opinion,  I  found  no  one  who 
hit  nearer  the  mark  than  did  the  Japanese  Cabinet  Minister 
in  those  three  sentences.  There  lay  the  crux  of  the  matter. 
It  goes  deep,  for  it  is  a  matter  of  race.  Hard  indeed  will  it 
be  to  eliminate  it  entirely  until  men  change  their  ideas  as 
to  their  own  civilisation  and  that  of  other  nations. 

A  fine  type  of  Englishman  in  the  Far  East,  one  who  is 
well  known  for  his  lovable  disposition  and  his  equity,  said 
to  me  one  day:  "The  Japanese  in  China  insists  that  the 
Englishman  shall  accept  him  on  an  equal  footing,  abso- 
lutely as  an  equal.  That  the  Englishman  cannot  and  will 
not  do.  He  cannot  even  pretend  to  do  so.  Such  an  atti- 
tude the  Japanese  resents  bitterly.  Such  is  the  basis  for  a 
racial  dislike  between  the  British  and  the  Japanese  in 
China.     When    all    other   causes   of    friction    are   cleared 


24  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

away  this  remains.  Who  shall  say  when  it  will  dis- 
appear ?  " 

That  submerged  every  argument  I  heard  in  Japan  on 
the  subject.  Japanese  journalists  had  told  me  of  thwarted 
Japanese  at  Tsing-tau,  of  Japanese  ships  fired  on  by 
English  guns  in  Chinese  waters,  and  many  stories  of  like 
character ;  but  in  the  background  always  loomed  the  spectre 
of  a  failure  on  the  part  of  the  English  to  take  the  Japanese 
at  his  own  valuation. 

Why  does  the  Englishman  not  do  so  ? 

Is  the  Japanese  to  be  held  blameless  that  the  British  in 
the  Far  East  will  not  accord  him  equality  ? 

Let  us  look  over  the  history  of  business  development  in 
China  and  see  if  it  throws  any  light  on  the  subject. 

A  well-known  diplomat,  held  in  high  esteem  in  the 
Orient,  once  said  that  British  merchants  in  China  gave 
frequent  indications  that  they  did  not  like  to  see  the 
monopoly  that  formerly  belonged  to  them  partially  trans- 
ferred to  others.  "Residents  at  Shanghai,"  he  said,  "are 
apt  to  take  a  limited  view  of  questions  which  involved  large 
issues — they  are  not  disposed  to  look  beyond  what  affects 
their  trade  for  the  time  being."  That  is  the  judgment  most 
men  who  have  spent  some  time  in  China  would  pass  on  the 
British  business  men  there.  They  may  be  loath  to  give  up 
their  paramount  position.  They  may  be  obsessed  with  the 
importance  of  the  local  point  of  view.  One  might  even 
call  them  narrow-minded  on  many  topics  without  doing 
them  a  glaring  injustice.  But  no  one  would  impugn  their 
honesty.  The  English  business  man  has  a  good  name  in 
the  Far  East.  I  made  strict  inquiry  as  to  whether  he  had 
changed  in  that  respect  since  sixteen  years  before,  when  I 
knew  more  of  business  in  China  than  I  knew  in  1916.  One 
of  the  best  known  business  men  in  the  American  colony  in 
Shanghai,  after  speaking  of  British-American  friction 
owing  to  business  adjustments  during  the  war,  paid  the 
individual  integrity  of  the  British  a  high  compliment. 

What  of  the  Japanese  business  man  ? 

The  Japanese  who  does  not  recognise  that  commercial 
morality  is  not  Japan's  strong  point  is  blind  to  the  plain 
fauhs  of  his  countrymen.  Commercial  morality  in  Japan 
is  improving  day  by  day,  but  all  too  frequently  the 
evidences  of  such  improvement  are  hard  to  find  in  China. 


ON    ENGLISHMEN    IN   THE    ORIENT       25 

Most  flagrant  of  the  instances  of  habitual  commercial 
immorality  on  the  part  of  the  Japanese  as  a  class  is  the 
Japanese  attitude  against  trade  marks.  No  trade  mark 
and  copyright  law  exists  in  China.  It  is  the  custom  of 
Japanese  manufacturers  to  produce  any  monopolised  com- 
modity which  they  can  make  at  a  profit,  and  to  copy  not 
only  the  goods  but  the  brand,  name  and  trade  mark. 
More  than  one  company  in  Japan  exists  solely  to  copy  the 
goods  of  some  foreign  iirm,  following  the  original  package 
as  closely  as  possible  in  every  detail.  With  cheap  and 
efficient  labour  at  their  command,  there  are  indeed  few 
articles  of  foreign  manufacture  sold  in  China  that  cannot 
be  produces  in  Japan  at  less  cost. 

A  case  was  recorded  in  1916  in  India  wherein  an 
Indian  firm  was  restrained  by  the  court  from  selling  Jap- 
anese soap  which  was  put  in  boxes  of  a  particular  style 
and  colour  and  with  a  label  of  peculiar  design,  solely  to 
counterfeit  a  well-known  soap  of  local  Indian  manufacture. 
The  evidence  of  the  defendant  company  laid  the  whole 
blame  on  the  Japanese  manufacturer.  So  much  so,  in 
fact,  that  a  paper  published  in  Kobe  made  the  following 
comment  on  the  case  : 

"According-  to  the  Indian  importers  the  Japanese  makers 
are  so  keen  on  spoiling-  somebody's  reputation  that  they  make 
the  fraudulent  imitation  even  when  asked  not  to.  That  may 
or  may  not  be.  Of  more  interest  is  the  question  whether,  in 
the  event  of  the  schemes  for  inspection  of  exports  maturing, 
any  attempt  will  be  made  to  prevent  the  export  of  fraudulent 
imitations.  These  injure  foreign  manufacturers  in  the  first 
place,  which  may  be  no  concern  of  Japan's,  but  in  the  ultimate 
issue  they  destroy  Japan's  reputation,  which  is  very  much  her 
concern." 

Imagine  a  man  subjected  to  such  competftion  who  has 
worked  hard  and  spent  a  considerable  sum  of  money 
creating  a  legitimate  trade  in  a  good  article  protected  by 
a  trade  mark.  His  views  on  the  subject  of  Japanese 
commercial  honesty  will  be  strong. 

Sometimes  Japanese  themselves  see  that  there  is  a 
reason  for  some  feeling,  on  the  part  of  the  Englishman  in 
the  Orient,  that  Japan  has  not  played  the  game.  A 
Japanese  writer  in  a  Japanese  publication  wrote  as  follows  : 


26  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

"  The  English  point  out  that  the  Japanese  promised  to  leave 
the  Korean  Customs  Tariff  unchanged  for  ten  years,  but  that 
promise  is  now  being  ignored.  The  English  in  China  do  not 
say  very  much  against  the  establishment  of  Japanese  interests 
and  privileges  in  Korea,  Manchuria,  Shantung  and  Fukien. 
They  have,  however,  some  reason  to  be  indignant  with  the 
Japanese  in  the  fact  that,  without  saying  anything  to  Great 
Britain,  as  she  should  have  done  in  view  of  the  Anglo-Japanese 
Treaty,  Japan  intended  to  get  from  China  by  force  the  privilege 
of  constructing  a  railway  at  a  certain  place  near  the  Yangtze 
where  the  British  had  established  their  commercial  interests 
years  and  years  before  the  development  of  Japanese  interests 
at  the  same  place." 

The  fight  which  faces  the  British  business  man  in  the 
Far  East  of  the  future  is  a  hard  one.  America  is  a  keen 
competitor.  Germany  will  undoubtedly  strive  hard  for 
her  share  of  the  business  of  China.  But 'nardest  of  all  to 
meet,  in  some  lines,  will  be  the  competition  of  the  Japa- 
nese, the  only  one  of  the  foreign  business  contingents  in 
China  who  have  such  cheap  labour  at  home,  such  advan- 
tages for  transporting  their  goods  quickly  and  cheaply  to 
China,  and  who  can  use  their  own  salesmen.  The  British 
and  other  foreign  business  houses  must  depend  upon  their 
native  selling  groups.  The  Japanese  salesmen  speak 
Chinese,  dress  as  do  the  Chinese,  eat  as  they  do,  in  short, 
live  as  they  do.  This  not  only  puts  them  closely  in  touch 
with  the  consumer,  but  does  so  at  a  price  against  which  no 
foreign  salesman  can  ever  hope  to  compete. 

The  sensible  British  trader  sees  all  this,  and  admits  it. 
Unpalatable  as  it  may  be  from  a  business  standpoint,  it 
is  as  nothing  to  him  compared  with  the  competition  that 
is  underhanded  and  unfair.    That  he  feels  and  feels  deeply. 

He  is  tenacious  of  his  opinions,  the  Englishman,  and 
it  will  take  evidence  to  make  him  change  his  mind  He 
does  not  like  the  Japanese  and  Japanese  methods.  He 
says  so  if  questioned.  He  will  not  accept  as  an  equal  the 
Japar^se  business  man,  as  a  class.  This  attitude  the 
Japanese  resents.  So  the  feeling  runs  in  a  vicious  circle. 
And  so,  to  all  appearances,  it  is  likely  to  do  for  some  time 
to  come. 

Time,  and  the  Japanese,  may,  and  probably  will, 
change  it. 


CHAPTER    VII 

SIDELIGHTS    ON    CHINA 

But  few  Chinese  have  borne  a  name  so  well  known  to  the 
Western  world  as  that  of  Wu  Ting  Fang. 

As  Minister  from  China  to  the  United  States  he 
achieved  a  great  reputation  as  a  quaint  Oriental  indi- 
vidual, something  of  a  philosopher,  and  something  of 
a  humorist. 

The  report  was  spread  that  Wu  Ting  Fang  retired 
altogether  from  political  life.  He  lived  in  Shanghai,  said 
Dame  Rumour,  and  took  but  little  or  no  interest  in  current 
affairs.  He  was  possessed  of  an  hallucination,  said  some, 
to  the  effect  that  he  had  discovered  the  secret  of  great 
longevity,  and  declared  his  firm  intention  to  live  to  an  age 
of  at  least  150  years,  if  indeed  he  did  not  complete  his 
second  century. 

When  hovering  on  the  borders  of  the  little  war  in 
Kwangtung  in  August,  1916,  I  attended  one  or  two  con- 
ferences wherein  a  representative  from  the  Central  Govern- 
ment at  Peking  was  present,  and  a  representative  of  the 
Revolutionary  Party  in  Shanghai  as  well.  On  the  occa- 
sion of  such  gatherings  the  mention  of  the  name  of  Wu 
Ting  Fang  was  not  made  in  a  manner  that  would  lead  one 
to  understand  that  he  had  abandoned  politics  altogether. 
By  no  means.     Quite  the  contrary. 

Wu  Ting  Fang  was  a  factor  in  the  political  life  of 
China  in  1916,  and  no  small  factor  at  that.  He  had  not 
come  into  the  limelight,  but  he  was  a  power  to  be  reckoned 
with,  nevertheless.  Many  weeks  after  the  following  notes 
were  written,  Wu  Ting  Fang  went  to  Peking  as  China's 
Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs. 

When  I  came  to  Shanghai  I  proposed  calling  on  Mr. 
Wu  and  paying  my  respects.  I  found  that,  for  his  years, 
he  was  astonishingly  young.  He  must  have  been  born 
nearly  seventy  years  ago,  if  not  more.     I  asked  his  friend, 

27 


28  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

Liang  Chi  Chiao,  next  day,  how  old  he  thought  Mr.  Wu 
was.  Liang  did  not  know  exactly,  but  knew  Wu  to  be  well 
past  sixty. 

Yes,  Mr.  Wu  is  really  remarkably  young,  if  appearance 
and  spirits  and  vivacity  and  energy  are  signs  by  which 
age  can  be  judged.  He  is  literally  lively  in  mind  and  body 
alike.  He  is  not  a  large  man.  His  face  is  keen  and  highly 
intelligent.  Good  humour  shines  from  his  eyes.  His 
voice  is  that  of  a  man  truly  in  the  prime  of  life.  He  talked 
to  me  for  nearly  three  hours  without  the  slightest  signs  of 
fatigue,  and  discussed  many  matters  with  no  little  warmth 
and  some  with  the  most  intense  and  real  enthusiasm. 

We  talked  of  China  and  Chinese  politics  from  many 
standpoints.  Much  that  we  discussed  was  not  for  publica- 
tion. When  Mr.  Wu  said  something  for  my  private  ear 
he  merely  indicated  that  fact  without  undue  emphasis. 
But  for  the  most  part  he  talked  frankly  and  freely  of  China, 
her  problems  and  her  possible  future.  Moreover,  he 
"talked  sense." 

"What  China  needs  at  the  present  stage  of  her  history 
is  time  to  grow  up,"  said  Mr.  Wu.  "China,  or  at  least 
the  Chinese  Republic,  is  the  little  boy  of  the  nations.  We 
are  only  so  high,"  and  Mr.  Wu  held  his  hand  a  couple  of 
feet  from  the  floor. 

"There  is  crying  need  for  many  things,"  he  continued, 
"but  nothing  do  we  need  more  urgently  than  currency 
reform.  Our  present  Minister  of  Finance  is  a  good  man, 
but  he  has  too  much  to  do  to  hope  to  be  able  to  give  his 
attention  to  such  a  huge  question.  We  need  the  establish- 
ment of  a  new  ministry,  the  appointment  of  a  Minister  of 
Currency.  Never  will  China  get  out  of  her  monetary 
troubles  so  long  as  the  present  chaotic  state  of  her  currency 
system,   if  such  it  can  be  called,  exists." 

Wu  Ting  Fang  was  most  anxious  to  know  what  I 
thought  about  the  prospect  of  China  being  able  to  borrow 
money  from  America  and  England.  I  remarked  that  out- 
side Powers  would  like  to  see  more  settled  conditions  in 
China,  and  that  outside  finance  would  feel  more  security 
for  its  loans  if  more  stable  conditions  existed  in  the  coun- 
try. Then,  too,  there  was  the  question  of  how  the  money 
was  to  be  spent,  and  how  such  loans  as  might  be  made 
should  be  secured. 


SIDELIGHTS    ON    CHINA  29 

"Things  are  steadily  improving  in  China,"  said  Mr. 
Wu.  "Sir  John  Jordan  once  said  in  a  speech  that  Yuan 
Shih  Kai  was  the  only  man  who  could  keep  peace  in 
China.  Yuan  is  dead.  There  has  been  more  peace  since 
his  death  than  before  it.  Assassination  was  frequent  under 
Yuan's  rule.  It  is  practically  unknown  now.  Yuan  did 
not  dare  leave  his  Yamen.  He  would  have  been  shot  if  he 
had  shown  himself,  and  he  knew  it.  President  Li  Yuan 
Hung  goes  about  freely  when  and  where  he  will,  without 
a  guard  of  any  sort.  He  is  not  afraid.  Nobody  wants  to 
shoot  him.  E)oes  not  that  in  itself  show  a  better  condition 
of  things  ? 

Mr.  Wu  spoke  of  the  habit  of  the  man  in  power  in 
Peking  inviting  all  and  sundry  to  come  to  Peking  and 
become  advisers  of  the  Government.  That,  he  said,  is  a 
Chinese  habit.  Yuan  Shih  Kai  had  it.  Yuan  asked  Wu 
Ting  Fang  more  than  once  to  come  to  Peking  and  take  a 
hand  in  the  affairs  of  state.  Before  he  died  Yuan  had  not 
less  than  a  thousand  advisers  of  one  sort  or  another. 

I  spoke  of  the  note  from  President  Li  asking  Sun  Yat 
Sen  to  come  to  Peking  and  act  as  advisor  to  the  Central 
Government.  "Is  Sun  Yat  Sen  still  a  power  behind  the 
scenes  in  China?  "  I  asked. 

"Sun  Yat  Sen,"  replied  Mr.  Wu,  "was  the  first 
President  of  the  Republic.  You  must  not  forget  that. 
He  will  always  have  some  following  and  some  weight  on 
that  account  alone,  outside  of  any  other  considerations. 

"But  with  regard  to  President  Li's  invitation  to  Sun 
Yat  Sen  to  come  to  the  capital  and  act  as  an  adviser,  you 
do  not  understand  that,  you  Western  folk,  because  you 
will  persist  in  looking  on  matters  of  Chinese  politics  with 
Western  eyes.  We  read  between  the  lines  of  all  '  open 
letters,'  and  all  other  letters  too,  for  that  matter. 

"Suppose  a  man  wants  to  borrow  money  from  me  and 
writes  asking  for  a  loan.  If  I  did  not  like  him  and  did 
not  wish  to  lend  him  the  money,  I  would  not  write  and  give 
him  an  out  and  out  refusal,  as  might  be  done  bv"  an 
American.  No,  I  would  write  a  letter  saying  that  I  realised 
his  quandary  and  greatly  sympathised  with  him;  that 
nothing  would  please  me  more  than  to  let  him  have  the 
money,  but  that  unfortunately  at  the  moment  demands  had 
been  made  upon   me  which   had  completely  drained  my 


30  THE    FAR   EAST  UNVEILED 

purse ;  that  I  could  not  give  him,  much  to  my  regret,  that 
which  I  did  not  possess,  but  that  I  would  see  what  I  could 
do  toward  helping  him  in  the  future ;  if  matters  should  so 
turn  out  that  I  could  help  him  I  would  at  once  let  him 
know.  That  is  the  Chinese  way.  If  that  is  true  of  a 
transaction  in  private  Chinese  life,  you  can  imagine  that 
you  must  not  take  too  seriously  such  Chinese  political 
letters  that  may  come  before  you. 

"Besides,  the  mere  asking  of  a  man  to  come  to  Peking 
and  assist  the  Government  means  nothing,  for  every 
Government  asks  everybody  to  come  to  Peking  as  a  matter 
of  courtesy.  As  I  have  told  you,  Yuan  Shih  Kai  asked 
me  to  come  to  Peking.  President  Li  asked  me  to  come 
and  help  him  also.  He  asked  me  again,  subsequently,  in 
a  way  that  showed  that  he  really  meant  the  invitation,  but 
I  decided  not  to  go.     Not  now." 

Wu  did  go,  later. 

"Did  you  ever  study  the  human  aura  in  Peking?" 
asked  Wu  Ting  Fang.  "  It  is  a  peculiar  thing  that  anyone 
who  stays  in  Peking  for  the  space  of  a  year  becomes  steeped 
in  conservatism.  Men  may  go  there  full  of  radical  ideas. 
They  become  conservatives  to  the  core.  I  told  that  to  the 
present  American  Minister  to  Peking,  Mr.  Reinsch,  when 
he  went  to  Peking.  No  man  escapes  it.  Peking  slows 
everybody  down.     It  always  has  done  and  always  w'ill  do." 

"Does  that  account  for  the  apparent  weakness  of  the 
present  administration?"  I  asked.  "I  was  astounded  at 
the  way  in  which  President  Li  handled  the  men  who  were 
mixed  up  in  the  recent  trouble  in  Kwangtung  and  the 
South.  He  seemed  anxious  to  propitiate  everyone  regard- 
less of  the  part  they  had  played  in  the  matter.  General 
Shum  Tsen  Huen  and  Li  Lit  Kwan,  Luk  Wing  Ting,  and 
General  Lung  Chai  Kw^ong  on  the  other  side,  were  all  to 
get  a  job  somewhere,  were  all  to  be  given  something  to 
induce  them  to  be  good." 

"That  is  the  Peking  way,  and  always  has  been," 
answered  Mr.  Wu.  "From  time  immemorial  the  effort  of 
the  Government  has  ever  been  to  please  as  many  people  as 
possible.  Li  is  no  different  in  that  respect  from  his 
predecessors." 

"Bv  the  way,"  I  said,  "to  what  party  do  j'ou  belong, 
Mr.  Wu?" 


SIDELIGHTS    ON    CHINA  31 

Wu  Ting-  Fang  laughed  in  the  peculiarly  engaging  way 
he  has  of  laughing.  "I  belong  to  more  than  one,"  he 
replied.  "They  ask  me  to  join  their  parties,  and  wishing 
to  be  obliging,  for  I  am  Chinese  in  that  particular,  you  see, 
I  foin  them.  But  I  do  not  attend  the  meetings.  I  am 
willing  to  help,  when  I  can,  and  sometimes  they  ask  me 
what  I  think.  I  tell  them,  sometimes.  Our  Chinese 
Republic  is  very  young,  and  needs  much  guidance.  But 
most  of  all,  it  needs  time.  It  cannot  grow  up  in  a  minute. 
Things  are  not  going  so  badly.  You  must  not  believe  all 
you  read  in  the  papers  in  China.     Far  from  it. 

"One  of  the  greatest  of  the  problems  that  are  engaging 
our  attention  at  the  present  time  is  just  how  to  go  about 
the  big  question  of  inculcating  some  initiative  in  the 
Chinese.  We  have  rather  a  plethora  of  very  young 
Chinese  who  go  to  Japan  for  a  smattering  of  an  education 
and  come  back  to  China  with  half-formed  ideas.  We  have 
a  dearth  of  men  who  are  in  any  way  capable  of  organisation 
of  any  sort.  What  we  must  have  is  outside  assistance  in 
the  way  of  teaching.  The  reforms  that  China  needs  most 
cannot  be  effected  by  Chinese  or  under  Chinese  jurisdic- 
tion. Nepotism,  agelong  custom,  and  all  the  wheels 
within  wheels  of  an  intricate  system  that  has  grown  to  be 
a  part  of  Chinese  life  in  almost  every  sphere  of  existence 
stand  in  the  way  of  reform  of  Chinese  affairs  by  the  Chinese 
themselves. 

"To  give  you  an  example,  let  me  tell  you  of  my  experi- 
ence in  a  personal  effort  to  work  some  reform  into  the 
organisation  and  control  of  the  greatest  Chinese  company 
extant,  the  China  Merchants  Steamship  Company." 

Wu  Ting  Fang's  eyes  sparkled  and  his  voice  grew 
eager.  He  recounted  the  battles  he  had  waged  with  a  vim 
and  an  enthusiasm  that  made  me  amazed  at  the  wonderful 
vitality  of  the  man.  His  years  seemed  to  have  passed  him 
by,  and  truly  to  have  left  him  in  possession  of  his  real 
youth,  as  it  is  his  habit  to  assert  that  they  have  done. 

The  story  of  his  attempt  at  the  reorganisation  of  the 
great  Chinese  concern  was  so  typical  of  the  China  of  to- 
day that  one  might  almost  read  from  it  a  parable. 


CHAPTER    VIII 

MORE  ABOUT   CHINA 

"The  China  Merchants  Steamship  Company,"  said  Wu 
Ting  Fang,  "is  the  biggest  Chinese  firm  in  existence.  As 
a  shareholder  and  director  I  essayed  some  reforms  which 
would,  had  they  been  adopted  by  the  company,  have  bid 
fair  to  have  increased  the  value  of  the  company,  its  scope, 
and  its  power,   immeasurably. 

"One  of  the  first  and  foremost  necessities  which  con- 
fronted us  in  our  work  of  reform  was  the  appointment 
of  a  foreign  business  head  for  the  concern.  The  Chinese 
family  system,  the  old  nepotism  which  has  wrapped  all 
Chinese  affairs  in  its  coils  for  so  many  centuries,  made  it 
absolutely  impossible  for  a  Chinese  to  make  any  real  head- 
way in  a  reorganisation  of  the  company.  The  squeeze 
system,  blood  brother  to  that  nepotism  which  hampered 
all  efforts  toward  change  of  management  or  methods  of 
doing  business,  was  ingrown  into  every  fibre  of  the 
China  Merchants  Company. 

"The  reform  we  planned  was  nothing  extraordinary  in 
itself.  It  was  nothing  more  than  any  Western  business 
man  could  see  at  a  glance  was  the  natural  concomitant  to 
placing  the  general  conduct  of  the  company  on  such  a  basis 
as  is  usual  with  all  such  concerns.  There  is  more  than 
one  well-known  shipping  house  in  the  Far  East  which  is 
conducted  in  an  up-to-date  manner.  From  any  one  of 
them  a  score  of  obvious  lessons  could  be  learned  by 
the  veriest  tyro  in  the  business  when  their  way  of  con- 
trolling their  employees  and  property  was  compared 
with  that  under  which  the  big  Chinese  company  was 
operated. 

"The  shares  of  the  China  Merchants  stood  at  120  taels 
each  when  I  began  to  interest  myself  in  the  proposed  re- 
form. The  mere  talk  of  a  reconstruction  on  sensible  lines 
put  the  shares  up  to   160  taols  at  once.     Had  my  plans 

32 


MORE    ABOUT    CHINA  33 

gone  through  those  shares  would  be  worth  easily  400  taels 
each  to-day,  at  a  conservative  valuation  ."^ 

Next  day  1  had  a  chat  with  one  of  the  largest  shipping 
men  in  the  East,  a  man  who  knows  the  shipping  world 
inside  out.  I  told  him  of  the  figures  mentioned  by  Mr. 
Wu  and  asked  his  opinion  as  to  their  correctness. 
He  said  there  was  not  the  slightest  doubt  that  Wu 
was  quite  correct.  The  figures  he  had  given  me  were 
sound. 

"But  that  reconstruction  was  not  to  be,"  continued  Wu 
Ting  Fang.  "The  moment  those  most  interested  in  the 
management  and  operation  of  the  company  got  wind  of 
my  plans,  the  old  dragon  of  nepotism  lifted  its  head  and 
began  a  fight  for  its  existence.  Here  was  an  instance  in 
which  a  Chinese,  in  company  with  other  Chinese  share- 
holders of  a  Chinese  concern,  attempted  to  launch  a  pro- 
paganda which  had  no  possible  object  save  the  betterment 
of  the  Chinese  concern  itself,  a  betterment  which  any  man 
of  ordinary  intelligence  could  see  at  a  glance  was  sadly 
needed  and  which  was  obviously  sure  of  result. 

"The  ability  to  organise  does  not  exist  in  the  Chinese. 
We  know  it.  One  of  the  crying  necessities  of  China  is 
teaching  along  those  lines.  Here  was  a  good  chance  for 
Chinese  to  learn  something  of  those  methods  of  organisa- 
tion which  had  assisted  the  Western  companies  operating 
in  China  to  administer  defeat  to  competitors  along  many 
avenues  of  the  shipping  trade. 

"We  talked  all  this  to  those  interested,  we  argued  and 
pleaded  with  those  who  were  disinclined  to  listen  to  us. 
What  was  the  result  ?  From  the  outcry  that  was  raised 
by  those  in  opposition  to  our  suggestions  one  would  have 
thought  that  the  entire  disintegration  of  the  concern  was 
planned.  The  point  of  the  placing  of  a  competent  foreign 
business  man  at  the  head  of  things  was  seized  upon,  to- 
gether with  the  fact  that  we  advocated  the  introduction  of 
more  capital  in  order  to  effect  more  speedily  some  badly 
needed  changes  that  would  enable  us  to  spread  out  into 
new  channels  that  lay  waiting  for  us,  and  a  report  was 
spread  that  we  were  about  to  sell  the  company  to  the 
Japanese.  Next  rumour  had  it  that  we  were  on  the  eve 
of  putting  the  company  under  Japanese  management.  A 
few  days  later  news  was  spread  that  one  million  ven  had 

D 


34  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

been  sent  to  us  in  Shanghai  from  Japan,  and  that  the 
Japanese  were  about  to  be  allowed  to  get  the  whip  hand  in 
the  directorate.  So  the  fight  went  on.  Appeals  were 
sent  to  Yuan  Shih  Kai  in  Peking  praying  him  to  intervene 
on  behalf  of  the  Chinese  Government  and  prevent  the 
company  from  being  lost  to  China. 

"And  all  this  without  the  slightest  shadow  of  founda- 
tion. Not  a  shred  of  truth  was  in  one  single  rumour. 
The  man  we  had  picked  for  the  position  was  an  English- 
man, long  and  well  known  in  shipping  circles  in  China. 
No  Japanese  was  ever  thought  of.  No  proposal  to  interest 
or  accept  Japanese  capital  was  ever  broached.  The  whole 
campaign  of  the  anti-improvement  element  was  based  on  a 
tissue  of  falsehood. 

"But  China  is  China.  The  reports  spread  with  alarm- 
ing rapidity,  and  such  fear  was  felt  on  all  sides  that  some 
secret  scheme  was  afoot  that  every  one  of  our  proposals 
was  defeated  and  eventually  dropped.  The  shares  dropped 
with  them,  and  went  back  to  120  taels,  where  they  are  to- 
day. Japanese  lines  have  come  since  in  increasing  num- 
bers and  are  in  many  instances  getting  the  trade  that 
might  be  going  to  the  China  Merchants  to-day,  except  for 
the  difficulties  of  uprooting  the  very  system  on  which  all 
Chinese  business  is  founded. 

"What  was  true  of  the  China  Merchants  Company  is 
true  to-day  in  almost  every  department  of  Chinese  affairs ; 
in  private  commercial  matters  or  in  matters  pertaining  to 
the  conduct  of  the  Government  itself.  Sir  Richard  Dane 
has  begun  the  reform  of  the  salt  gabelle,  and  from  the 
very  fact  that  he  is  not  a  Chinese  he  can  sweep  away  cob- 
webs that  no  Chinese  could  displace,  no  matter  how  con- 
scientious and  hard-working  he  might  be.  China  needs 
money.  She  must  have  money.  Chinese  hate  to  see  the 
land  taxes  pass  out  from  under  the  control  of  the  Chinese 
themselves,  but  how  else  are  the  land  taxes  to  be  so  re- 
formed that  they  will  yield  what  they  should  produce  in 
the  way  of  revenue?    It  is  a  great  problem. 

"What  about  the  Japanese,  Mr.  Coleman?  Are  they 
good  administrators?  Do  they  organise  well?  They 
understand  China  better  than  it  is  possible  for  the  Western 
nations  to  understand  us.  Is  it  altogether  unwise  for  us 
to  look  to  the  Japanese  for  some  assistance  in  the  organis- 


MORE    ABOUT    CHINA  35 

ing  of  some  of  our  resources  ?  What  do  you  think  of  their 
capabilities  for  organisation  ?  " 

I  could  but  admit  that  the  Japanese  had  exhibited  no 
little  ability  of  late  years  in  that  direction.  I  had  been 
watching  some  of  that  Japanese  co-operation  that  extends 
from  the  loom  and  mill  in  Japan  to  the  wholesale  house, 
then  on  to  the  merchant  and  shipper  with  the  assistance  of 
the  shipping  company  itself,  and  still  on  to  the  distributor 
in  China  and  at  last  to  the  very  salesman  himself.  Insig- 
nificant though  he  might  be,  incapable  also  at  times,  there 
was  always  evidence  that  he  was  a  part  and  under  the  eye 
of  a  parent  organisation  that  was  neither  incapable  nor 
slumbering. 

"Speaking  frankly,  Mr.  Wu,"  said  I  in  further  reply, 
"the  Western  observer  in  the  Orient,  particularly  he  who 
has  the  welfare  of  China  at  heart  in  general,  is  a  little 
dubious  about  the  wisdom  of  China  allowing  Japan  too 
close  connection  with  her  internal  affairs,  for  the  reason 
that  Japan  has,  we  fear,  a  point  of  view  with  reference  to 
what  we  term  the  Open  Door  policy  that  is  not  in  accord 
in  every  particular  with  ours.  When  Japan  treats  the 
foreign  business  man  as  she  treats  him  in  Korea  it  is  more 
or  less  her  own  business  and  no  one  else's.  In  Manchuria, 
which  is  not  a  part  of  Japan,  but  happens  to  be  a  part  of 
China,  Japan's  methods  seem  to  diminish  other  foreign 
business  and  increase  her  own  in  a  manner  and  to  an  extent 
that  makes  one  wonder  if  the  Open  Door  policy,  as  the 
English  or  the  Americans  would  interpret  it,  is  being 
applied  there.  I  do  not  pretend  to  know,  and  I  am  on  my 
way  there  to  get  some  first-hand  ideas  on  the  subject. 

"But  broadly,  Mr.  Wu,  if  bringing  the  Japanese  closer 
into  touch  with  China,  and  gaining  their  organisation  of 
Chinese  affairs  for  China,  is  going  to  put  them  in  a  posi- 
tion to  crowd  out  the  other  foreign  business  men,  I  confess 
I  cannot  see  the  benefit  to  China  in  the  long  run.  That 
lesson  we  learned  in  America  through  our  experience  with 
our  trusts.  The  consumer  is  never  ultimately  benefited  by 
the  strangulation  of  fair,  healthy  competition.  Then, 
Japan  is  not  popular  in  China,  is  she?  Would  not  that 
affect  the  feasibility  of  her  taking  over  the  organisation  of 
some  of  China's  more  intimate  intf^rnal  affairs?  " 

"Japan  understands  China  better  to-dav  than  she  did," 


36  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

said  Wu  Ting  Fang  thoughtfully.  "The  war  of  1894  was 
caused  chiefly  through  Japan's  hurt  pride  at  the  scornful 
attitude  of  the  Chinese  toward  the  Japanese.  Later  years 
have  seen  a  section  of  the  Japanese  look  down  on  Chinese 
methods  sometimes.  The  Five  Group  Demands  of  1915 
caused  the  Chinese  to  feel  bitter  against  the  Japanese  again, 
but  Japanese  statesmen  of  the  better  class  are  promulgating 
a  better  policy  toward  China.  The  best  minds  in  Japan  see 
that  to  make  China  friendly  toward  Japan  by  an  attitude 
that  is  good  for  China  as  well  as  good  for  Japan  is  going 
to  be  the  most  sensible  policy  for  Japan  in  the  end.  Unless 
the  signs  of  the  times  in  Japan  are  misleading,  China  may 
look  for  fair  treatment  from  Japan,  I  think." 

"But,  Mr.  Wu,"  I  insisted,  "what  about  the  Open 
Door?  Will  Japan  shut  China  to  the  foreign  concern  if 
she  gets  an  opportunity  to  do  so  without  embroiling  her- 
self in  international  dispute  ?  " 

Wu  Ting  Fang  shook  his  head  and  sighed.  "I  am,  of 
course,  a  believer  in  the  Open  Door.  What  Chinese  is 
not?  But  we  have  no  talent  for  organisation,  we  Chinese. 
I  do  not  know.     I  do  not  know." 

I  left  it  at  that.  Wiser  heads  than  even  Wu  Ting 
Fang's  might  find  the  knot  hard  indeed  to  unravel.  The 
future  will  bring  its  own  problems  for  China,  no  doubt, 
but  few  of  them  will  be  harder  of  solution  than  the  one 
with  which  she  is  faced  to-day  in  connection  with  her 
problem  of  just  how  to  deal  with  her  fellow  Orientals,  the 
Japanese. 

As  I  left  Mr.  Wu  we  turned  again  to  lighter  vein. 
Remarking  upon  his  appearance  of  youth,  I  told  him  I 
was  surprised  to  see  time  had  left  so  little  mark  upon  him 
in  its  passing. 

"I  have  found  the  elixir  of  life,"  he  said  with  a  smile. 
"I  expect  to  revisit  the  United  States  in  1959.  Will  you 
be  there  ?  " 

"Perhaps,"  I  replied.  "But  it  is  a  long  time  forward 
to  make  a  definite  appointment." 

And  so  I  left  him.  One  can  gather  as  many  dififering 
opinions  about  Wu  Ting  Fang,  his  abilities,  his  sincerity, 
his  fads  and  his  fancies  as  there  are  thinking  men  in 
Shanghai.  Nevertheless,  I  seldom  enjoyed  an  afternoon 
more  than  ihc  one  spent  in  his  company. 


CHAPTER    IX 

CHINESE   VIEWS   ABOUT   JAPANESE   ASSISTANCE 

All  sorts  of  elements  go  to  make  up  the  Chinese  political 
whole. 

When  in  Shanghai  I  took  the  opportunity  to  pay 
a  call  upon  Liang  Chi  Chiao  and  Dr.  Sun  Yat  Sen,  as 
these  two  Chinese  gentlemen,  possessing  views  and  sym- 
pathies that  had  little  in  common,  and  with,  no  doubt, 
equally  little  idea  of  ever  co-operating  for  the  furtherance 
of  their  individual  political  propaganda,  nevertheless  repre- 
sented, from  quite  different  standpoints,  two  marked 
characteristics  that  had  done  much  to  colour  the  fabric 
which  was  being  woven  by  the  political  leaders  in  the 
Chinese  Republic. 

These  two  common  attributes  of  two  men  so  widely 
differing  in  general  type  and  in  belief  as  to  the  best  policy 
for  the  furtherance  of  China's  welfare  were,  first,  the  fact 
that  they  were  both  theorists  rather  than  practical  men,  and 
second,  that  they  had  been,  more  than  once  and  by  more 
than  one  faction,  each  accused  of  being  willing  and  anxious 
to  further  the  interests  of  Japan  as  against  those  of  China. 

When  in  the  South  of  China  in  August,  1916,  at  the 
time  of  the  little  war  in  Kwangtung,  I  heard  two 
remarks  concerning  Liang  Chi  Chiao,  made  by  two 
Chinese  who  were  bitter  political  enemies.  General 
Shum  Tsen  Huen,  the  strong  military  man  of  the  southern 
provinces  of  China,  told  me  that  he  considered  Liang  Chi 
Chiao  the  most  prominent  factor  and  the  most  able  leader 
of  thought  among  the  various  revolutionary  or  radical 
politicians  in  the  Shanghai  group.  Liang  Shih  Yi,  the 
man  behind  the  scenes  of  the  days  of  Yuan  Shih  Kai,  and 
admittedly  the  cleverest  political  schemer  that  China  has 
seen  for  many  a  day,  told  me  in  Hong  Kong  that  Liang 
Chi  Chiao  had  been  responsible  for  bringing  more  Japanese 
influence  into  China  than  any  other  man  alive. 

37 


427853 


38  THE    FAR    EAST   UNVEILED 

I  found  Liang  Chi  Chiao  at  his  home  in  Shanghai,  in 
surroundings  that  were  certainly  sufficiently  democratic 
from  the  standpoint  of  simplicity  and  general  lack  of 
ostentation  or  display.  Liang  lived  in  Spartan  style.  The 
house  in  which  he  was  domiciled  was  a  good  one,  but  it 
was  furnished  without  regard  to  even  so  much  of  luxury 
as  we  have  grown  to  consider  usual  in  the  average  home. 

Liang  himself  is  a  comparatively  young  man,  whose 
personal  appearance  stamps  him  at  once  as  a  purely  literary 
type,  a  dreamer.  A  dreamer  he  certainly  is,  and  like  many 
dreamers  he  has  his  eyes  closed  to  many  things  that  might 
give  another  trend  to  his  dreams  did  he  but  possess  greater 
powers  of  observation. 

He  does  not  speak  English. 

A  long  conversation  through  the  medium  of  an  inter- 
preter seldom  produces  the  most  satisfactory  results  in 
China.  Subjects  can  seldom  be  pursued  to  a  definite 
conclusion.  Many  points  are  touched  upon  and  some 
general  ideas  gained,  but  gaps  are  bound  to  occur  that  are 
difficult  to  bridge. 

Knowing  that  Liang  Chi  Chiao  is  one  of  the  most  bril- 
liant writers  in  China,  and  that  his  writings  have  weight 
with  the  older  regime  in  China  rather  than  the  more  up-to- 
date  cult,  I  endeavoured  particularly  to  discover  what  he 
thought  of  the  Central  Government  and  its  chances 
of  a  sufficient  life  to  allow  it  some  opportunity  to  work  some 
reform  into  Chinese  affairs. 

On  this  point  Liang  Chi  Chiao  was  very  definite.  He 
said  that  I  need  not  fear  that  China  would  see  another 
revolution  for  some  time  to  come,  no  matter  how  much 
change  in  the  personnel  of  those  at  the  helm  of  affairs 
might  take  place.  Even  a  sweeping  change  in  the  Cabinet, 
if  such  a  tiling  should  transpire  at  any  time,  would  not 
mean  revolution.  Ciiina  was  thoroughly  tired  of  revolu- 
tions. The  leaders  of  all  parties  agreed  on  that.  General 
Tuan  Chi  Jui,  the  Premier,  was  at  the  head  of  the  Military 
Party  of  the  north.  Tang  Shao  Yi  might  Ix"  considered 
the  leader  of  the  Revolutionary  Parly  of  the  south.  Liang's 
party  stood  for  compromise  between  the  two,  he  said.  All 
were  honesll)'  of  tiie  belief  that  no  good  purpose  could 
possibly  be  served  by  an  outbreak  of  any  sort. 

That   was  a  praclical   and  tangible  statement  enough. 


CHINESE    ON    JAPANESE    ASSISTANCE     39 

but  it  showed  that  Liang  had  little  grasp  of  the  situation  in 
South  China.  In  less  than  a  year  a  formidable  revolution 
was  in  progress. 

When  the  subject  of  Chinese  reform  was  under  dis- 
cussion all  practicality  vanished  into  thin  air.  Liang  is 
able.  He  is  far  from  being  a  fool.  He  has  attributes  that 
make  one  accord  him  respect.  But  the  lield  of  practical 
politics  is  not  his  strong  point.  He  can  string  together 
phrases  that  have  an  admirable  sound,  and  seem  able  until 
one  tries  to  extract  practical  meat  from  them.  Then  one 
finds  one  has  little  more  than  sound  left. 

That  very  fact  is  the  most  interesting  thing  about  Liang 
Chi  Chiao.  He  is  a  leader  of  thought.  Lie  is  a  leader  of 
strong  men  in  China — many  of  them  old-fashioned,  no 
doubt,  but  nevertheless  strong  men  for  all  that.  But  he  is 
a  dreamer.  Outside  of  China  a  test  of  his  practical  w'orth 
as  an  adviser  would  be  demanded,  but  in  China  the  coiner 
of  beautiful  periods  still  holds  a  sway  that  is  as  remark- 
able as  it  is  evident. 

He  was  not  very  communicative  about  Japan.  He 
said  that  Japan  understood  China  better  than  any  of  the 
Western  nations  understood  the  great  Celestial  Land.  He 
was  in  favour  of  courting  Japanese  assistance  in  some 
directions. 

I  asked  him  if  he  relished  the  idea  of  the  Japanese 
taking  over  the  control  of  the  Land  Ta^  as  security  for  a 
loan,  and  he  said  at  once  that  he  did  not  think  that  would 
be  feasible  or  wise. 

Liang  Chi  Chiao  seemed  to  me  to  be  disinclined  to  think 
that  any  danger  to  Chinese  sovereignty  or  control  of  her 
own  affairs  would  be  likely  to  result  from  a  considerable 
amount  of  Japanese  supervision  of  some  departments  of 
Chinese  affairs.  But  I  would  hardly  call  him  pro-Japanese, 
if  what  he  told  me  represented  his  innermost  beliefs.  On 
the  other  hand,  I  could  see  w^hy  some  Chinese  should  have 
gained  the  idea  that  he  was  so. 

The  sum  total  of  the  impressions  I  gained  from  my 
interview  with  him  was,  that  if  he  was  in  real  power  in 
China,  a  practical  politician  might  find  it  more  easy  to  work 
certain  schemes  without  Liang's  discovery  of  the  real 
objects  behind  them  than  might  be  the  case  with  a  man 
more  accustomed  to  practical  matters.     Most  impressive  of 


40  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

all  to  me  was  the  fact  that  such  a  man  had  so  much  weight 
in  the  political  counsels  of  China.  Not  many  months  after 
my  talk  with  Liang  he  was  given  the  folio  of  Minister  of 
Finance  in  the  Peking  Government. 

Dr.  Sun  Yat  Sen  is  of  absolutely  different  mould  to 
Liang  Chi  Chiao  in  all  the  externals  of  life.  A  Chinese 
soldier  guarded  his  modern  house  in  the  French  Conces- 
sion. The  interior  of  his  home  did  not  differ  from  that  of 
the  average  European  resident  of  prosperous  Shanghai. 

The  doctor  himself  met  me  in  Western  garb.  Many 
unkind  things  are  said  against  him,  but  he  certainly  has  an 
engaging  personality.  Many  of  his  ideas  of  the  past  were 
so  utterly  absurd  that  I  was  prepared  for  something  of  the 
kind  from  him  again.  But  Sun  Yat  Sen  had  changed. 
He  talked  less  wild  and  weird  fancies  about  politics. 

Men  of  discernment  in  the  Far  East  have  dubbed  Sun 
Yat  Sen  selfish  and  "out  for  himself."  That  appears  to  be 
true.  It  is  not  an  altogether  unknown  attribute  of  Chinese 
politicians. 

The  main  points  made  by  Dr.  Sun  in  a  talk  that  ex- 
tended over  a  couple  of  hours  were  these  : 

Things  are  by  no  means  hopeless  in  China.  China  has 
too  much  good  in  it,  is  too  great  a  nation  to  be  lost. 
Things  will  all  come  right  in  time.  We  will  not  live, 
perhaps,  to  see  any  great  radical  changes  in  China,  but 
they  will  come  one  day.  There  is  just  a  glimmer  of  some- 
thing approaching  the  birth  of  a  national  spirit  in  China. 
People  are  beginning  to  realise  what  such  a  thing  means. 
Most  of  them  look  upon  it  as  something  almost  hopeless 
of  realisation,  but  the  fact  that  a  national  spirit  among  the 
people  is  even  recognised  as  desirable,  no  matter  how 
hopeless  they  may  be  of  its  spread  to  a  degree  that  will 
make  it  a  factor  of  affairs  in  China,  is  in  itself  a  move  in 
the  right  direction. 

The  greatest  need  of  China  is  some  sort  of  instruction 
in  the  way  of  organisation  and  ability  to  conduct  organised 
enterprises.  The  taking  over  of  the  Customs  of  China  by 
foreigners,  and  so  manoeuvring  matters  that  Chinese  have 
never  had  any  instruction  in  their  administration,  has 
worked  no  real  good  to  China.  If  it  had  been  arranged 
that  Sir  Robert  Hart  had  done  his  work  with  a  gradually 
increasing  number  of  Chinese  assistants  instead  of  a  full 


CHINESE    ON    JAPANESE    ASSISTANCE     41 

staff  of  European  assistants,  as  provided  by  the  arrange- 
ment with  the  Powers,  how  much  more  good  might  have 
been  done  to  Cliina. 

Sending  young  students  abroad  and  getting  them  back 
with  half-baked  ideas  on  Western  affairs  was  serving  no 
really  useful  purpose  in  the  long  run.  What  the  Chinese 
needed  ♦most  was  some  teaching  that  would  enable  a 
Chinese  staff  to  handle  such  a  matter  as  the  reorganisation 
of  the  Land  Tax,  for  instance.  Sun  Yat  Sen  was  abso- 
lutely against  letting  the  administration  of  the  Land  Tax 
pass  out  from  under  Chinese  control.  "It  is  our  trump 
card,  the  Land  Tax,  and  our  best  one,"  he  said ;  "  if  we  lose 
control  of  it  China  would  suffer  an  irreparable  loss." 

For  a  long  time  we  discussed  the  Japanese  question  as 
applied  to  China.  Sun  Yat  Sen  said  that  no  Chinese  could 
get  away  from  the  fact  that  Japan  had  made  her  great 
strides  by  inviting  instructors  from  the  Western  world  to 
come  in  and  teach  her  something  of  Western  ways.  He 
was  clearly  an  advocate  for  such  a  move  on  the  part  of 
China.  He  thought  that  the  Japanese  knew  more  of  the 
Chinese  than  any  other  folk  could  know,  and  that  it  might 
be  a  very  good  thing  for  China  to  take  instruction  from  the 
Japanese. 

Dr.  Sun  thought  that  the  better  element  in  Japan  was 
keen  on  treating  China  leniently.  He  thought,  too,  that 
the  better  element  in  Japan,  though  possibly  very  much  in 
the  minority,  had  the  power  to  swing  Japanese  policy 
toward  real  friendship  to  China.  A  Chinese  who  held  anti- 
Japanese  opinions  could  not  hear  Sun  Yat  Sen  talk  as  he 
talked  to  me  without  calling  him  very  pro-Japanese. 

Along  this  line  the  first  President  of  the  Chinese 
Republic  showed  that  he  was  more  of  a  theorist  than  a 
practical  man.  He  did  not  take  into  account  the  dangers 
of  allowing  any  other  nation  opportunity  to  gain  the  con- 
trol of  the  great  chaotic  mass  of  human  beings  that  is 
gathered  together  in  China's  vast  provinces.  The  sugges- 
tion of  such  dangers  he  threw  aside  with  a  gesture  that 
showed  he  did  not  very  seriously  consider  them. 

Once  he  talked  in  a  vein  that  made  me  think  he  had  a 
realisation  of  what  might  happen  to  China  if  Japan's  policy 
of  peaceful  penetration  were  augmented  by  China  thrmving 
herself  on  Japan's  hands  and  asking  that  Japan  take  over 


42  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

the  running  of  things.  When  1  put  it  thus  baldly  he 
assured  me  that  no  one  who  was  a  true  Chinese  patriot 
wanted  anything  of  the  kind,  nor  would  submit  to  it.  He 
seemed  to  think  that  there  was  a  vast  difference  between 
taking  instruction  from  Japan  as  Japan  had  taken  instruc- 
tion from  the  Western  world  and  putting  the  control  of 
China  in  Japan's  hands.  I  did  not  press  the  matter  too 
far,  but  I  confess  to  an  impression  that  Sun  Yat  Sen,  if  he 
were  again  the  President  of  the  Chinese  Republic,  might 
lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  to  control  thoroughly  China's 
political  development  was  just  as  vital  to  the  ultimate 
destiny  of  Japan  as  to  get  Chinese  raw  material  from 
China  in  exchange  for  Japanese  manufactured  products. 

Lack  of  practical  insight  into  the  probable  trend  of 
things  as  between  China  and  Japan  under  certain  circum- 
stances seemed  the  flaw  in  Sun  Yat  Sen's  point  of  view. 
His  theories  were  interesting.  But  China  is  faced,  as 
Grover  Cleveland  would  have  put  it,  with  a  condition,  not 
a  theory. 

While  Chinese  politicians  are  theorising,  Japan  is  mak- 
ing practical  progress  in  more  than  one  direction. 

I  am  glad,  in  view  of  that  fact,  that  I  took  the  time, 
while  in  Shanghai,  to  call  on  Liang  Chi  Chiao  and  Sun 
Yat  Sen. 

It  made  me  wonder  how  much  of  theory  and  how  much 
of  practice  I  would  find  at  Peking. 


CHAPTER    X 

THE    FIVE    GROUP    DEMANDS 

When  on  January  i8,  1915,  IVIr.  Hioki,  the  Japanese 
Minister  to  Peking,  handed  to  Yuan  Shih  Kai,  President 
of  the  Chinese  Republic,  the  documents  that  have  become 
known  to  fame  as  the  "Five  Group  Demands,"  Group 
Three  was  so  framed  as  to  be  worthy  of  special  attention 
by  any  who  professed  a  cursory  interest  in  the  Yangtze 
Valley  or  anything  pertaining  thereto. 

The  Yangtze  Valley  has  been  so  long  familiar  as  a 
term  representing  a  vague  somewhere  that  England  had 
a  particular  interest  in  developing  as  regarded  its  trade 
and  resources,  that  some  people  might  forget  what  a  vast 
region  the  term  embraces. 

The  Yangtze-Kiang  can  lay  reasonable  claim  to  the 
title  of  the  finest  river  among  all  the  giant  waterways  of 
the  world.  From  its  myriad  sources  in  the  mountain 
fastnesses  of  far  Tibet  down  its  3,500  miles  of  length  to 
where  it  empties  its  770,000  cubic  feet  of  water  per  second 
into  the  Eastern  Sea,  it  cuts  in  two  the  most  thickly 
populated  continent  in  the  world. 

Of  the  eighteen  provinces  of  China  it  flows  through 
five  and  touches  the  boundaries  of  another  two.  Kiang- 
Su  on  the  coast,  An-hwei  next  on  the  west,  then  Hupeh, 
and  finally  great  western  Szechwan,  that  borders  on  Tibet, 
form  the  river  bed.  To  the  north  lie  six  of  China's  other 
provinces  and  to  the  south  of  it,  Yunnan,  Hunan  and 
Kiang-Si  being  touched  by  its  waters,  lie  the  other  eight. 

Well  may  the  latest  official  Japanese  publication  re- 
mark that  "it  is  on  the  Yangtze  basin,  on  account  of  its 
immense  wealth  and  variety  of  products,  that  for  the  pre- 
sent and  the  future  will  be  centred  the  commercial  interest 
of  the  whole  world." 

That  more  than  200,000,000  souls  are  counted  in  the 
population  of  the  Yangtze  Valley,  that  its  area  comprises 

43 


44  THE    FAR    EAST   UNVEILED 

over  700,000  square  miles,  that  from  the  sea  to  a  point 
over  1,000  miles  inland  large  ocean-going  steamers  ply 
up  and  down  this  great  waterway  of  international  traffic, 
that  small  steamers  run  up-river  another  300  miles  or  so, 
and  big  junks  can  navigate  still  another  200  miles  to  the 
westward,  making  the  Yangtze  traffic-bearing  for  well- 
nigh  1,500  miles  all  told,  and  that  eleven  treaty  ports  of 
China,  from  Shanghai  to  Chung-king,  in  interior  Szech- 
wan,  depend  upon  the  river  for  their  prosperity  and  com- 
mercial existence,  are  facts  one  can  cull  from  any  up-to- 
date  guide  book. 

Hankow,  in  Hupeh  Province,  the  inland  metropolis  of 
China,  lies  on  the  Yangtze,  585  miles  by  river  route  from 
Shanghai,  and  almost  equidistant  from  Peking  (connected 
thereto  by  a  railway  about  750  miles  long)  and  Canton  on 
the  south,  to  which  some  day,  if  hopes  materialise,  a  rail- 
way may  connect  the  north,  centre  and  south  of  China  in 
unbroken  line. 

Of  all  the  various  things  In  which  this  wonderful  basin 
of  a  wonderful  river  is  astonishingly  rich,  mines  of  iron 
and  coal  stand  out  predominantly. 

Thus  when  the  Five  Group  Demands  made  on  China 
by  Japan  spoke  of  matters  which  had  to  do  with  the 
Yangtze  Valley,  and  had  to  do  with  mining  matters  in  the 
Yangtze  Valley  as  well,  those  who  were  concerned  with 
that  part  of  the  world  were  very  naturally  much  interested. 

Group  Three  of  the  Five  Group  Demands  contained 
but  three  paragraphs.    These  paragraphs  are  as  follows  : 

"The  Japanese  Government  and  the  Chinese  Govern- 
ment, seeing  that  Japanese  financiers  and  the  Hanyeping 
Company  have  close  relations  with  each  other  at  present, 
and  desiring  that  the  common  interests  of  the  two  nations 
shall  be  advanced,  agree  to  the  following  articles  : 

"Article  i.  The  two  contracting  parties  mutually  agree 
that  when  the  opportune  moment  arrives  the  Hanyeping 
Company  shall  be  made  a  joint  concern  of  the  two  nations, 
and  they  further  agree  that,  without  the  previous  consent 
of  Japan,  China  shall  not  by  her  own  act  dispose  of  the 
rights  and  property  of  whatsoever  nature  of  Ihe  said 
company,  nor  cause  the  said  company  to  dispose  freely  of 
the  same. 

"Article  2.     The  Chinese  Government  agrees  that  all 


THE    FIVE    GROUP    DEMANDS  45 

mines  in  the  neighbourhood  of  those  owned  by  the 
Hanyeping  Company  shaU  not  be  permitted,  without  the 
consent  of  the  said  company,  to  be  worked  by  any  other 
persons  outside  of  the  said  company;  and  further  agrees 
that  if  it  is  desired  to  carry  out  any  undertaking  which  it 
is  apprehended  may  directly  or  indirectly  affect  the  in- 
terests of  the  said  company,  the  consent  of  the  said  com- 
pany shall  first  b'e  obtained." 

That  was  the  exact  wording  of  the  translation  of  the 
document  as  it  was  given  to  me  by  a  member  of  the 
Chinese  Government,  and  a  well-known  Japanese  diplomat 
to  whom  I  showed  the  three  paragraphs  quoted  took  no 
exception  to  their  wording. 

A  little  bald  for  a  diplomatic  communication,  perhaps, 
but  possessing  the  merit  of  being  quite  easily  understood. 

The  Hanyeping  Iron  and  Coal  Company  was  w^ell 
known  as  a  huge  Chinese  concern  in  the  Yangtze  Valley 
which  had  borrowed  Japanese  capital  and  shipped  great 
quantities  of  iron  ore  to  Japan,  but  this  overt  effort  to  gain 
such  sweeping  control  of  the  mining  area  in  which  the 
Hanyeping  Company  operated  made  many  an  observing 
individual  literally  "sit  up  and  take  notice." 

On  March  g,  1915,  at  the  eighth  conference  between 
China  and  Japan  over  the  Five  Group  Demands,  China 
agreed  to  refrain  from  raising  objections  to  the  principle 
of  co-operation  in  the  Hanyeping  Company  if  the  com- 
pany itself  should  arrive  at  an  agreement  in  that  respect 
with  the  Japanese  capitalists  concerned,  but  the  private 
business  of  other  people,  outside  the  Hanyeping  Company 
and  having  nothing  to  do  with  it,  was  another  matter. 
The  Chinese  Government  was  precluded,  it  averred,  from 
interfering  w'ith  any  Chinese  subjects  in  such  manner  as 
might  affect  their  freedom  to  engage  in  any  lawful 
occupation. 

On  April  10,  at  the  twenty-first  conference,  China  said 
flatly  that  she  could  not  agree  to  Japan's  demands  re  the 
Hanyeping  Company  for  the  reason  that  to  do  so  would 
seriously  affect  the  principle  of  equal  commercial  and  in- 
dustrial opportunity.  Those  phrases  have  become  much 
worn  in  China  in  connection  with  discussions  of  the  Open 
Door  policy,  and  one  comes  upon  them  with  the  recogni- 
tion one  gives  to  acquaintances  of  long  standing. 


46  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

When  Japan  put  forward  her  revised  demands,  pre- 
sented to  China  on  April  26,  1915,  the  Third  Group  had 
undergone  a  change  in  Tokyo.  The  three  original  para- 
graphs had  disappeared,  and  one  only  taken  their  place. 
It  read  as  follows  : 

"The  relations  between  Japan  and  the  Hanyeping 
Company  being  very  intimate,  if  those  interested  in  the 
said  company  come  to  an  agreement  with  the  Japan- 
ese capitalists  for  co-operation,  the  Chinese  Government 
shall  forthwith  give  its  consent  thereto.  The  Chinese 
Government  further  agrees  that,  without  the  consent 
of  the  Japanese  capitalists,  China  will  not  convert 
the  company  into  a  State  enterprise,  nor  confiscate  it, 
nor  cause  it  to  borrow  and  use  foreign  capital  other  than 
Japanese." 

China  agreed  to  this,  and  later  put  her  agreement  into 
writing,  and  there  the  incident  ended,  so  far  as  the 
diplomatic  end  of  it  was  concerned. 

When  one  is  in  Hankow,  one  is  very  close  to  the  Han 
Yang  ironworks  of  the  Hanyeping  Company,  which  are 
located  at  Han  Yang,  across  the  Han  Shui  River  from 
Hankow,  and  but  a  stone's  throw  from  it. 

In  the  course  of  my  visit  to  that  part  of  the  world  I 
learned  many  facts  about  mining  in  the  Yangtze  Valley, 
and  about  the  Hanyeping  Company  in  particular. 

In  passing,  I  wish  to  record  an  object-lesson  given  me 
on  my  arrival  at  Hankow.  On  the  north  bank  of  the 
Yangtze,  the  first  buildings  that  the  up-river  steamers  pass 
on  their  way  to  their  respective  berths  at  one  of  the  num- 
erous junk-wharves  floating  in  front  of  the  Concessions, 
are  a  fine  series  of  go-downs,  or  warehouses,  owned  by  an 
English  syndicate.  Part  of  this  prize  plum  of  property 
lies  in  the  area  of  the  Japanese  extension  to  its  Concession. 
Next  to  the  westward  are  the  go-downs  of  the  American 
Standard  Oil  Company,  the  concern  that  is  doing  more  to 
carry  the  Stars  and  vStripes  up  China's  inland  waterways 
and  over  her  interior  provinces  tTian  all  the  rest  of  America 
put  together. 

Although  the  Standard  Oil  Company's  property  and 
part  of  the  English  syndicate's  go-downs  are  nominally 
within  the  Japanese  Concession,  the  fact  that  the  owner- 
ship of  the  ground  on  which  they  rest  was  not  Japanese 


THE    FIVE    GROUP    DEMANDS  47 

when  the  Concession  was  extended  take  them  from  under 
Japanese  supervision  in  any  form. 

There  is  a  little  story  in  the  acquisition  of  the  valuable 
set  of  go-downs,  so  ideally  placed,  by  the  English  syndi- 
cate. The  deal  took  place  in  1916.  One  of  the  owners  of 
the  newly-purchased  ground  was  a  fellow-passenger  on  the 
steamer  that  took  me  from  Shanghai  to  Hankow.  The 
ground  and  the  buildings  on  it  were  originally  owned  by 
a  Chinese  group,  prominent  among  which  was  the  Chinese 
Bank  of  Communications,  which  had  been  in  sad  difficul- 
ties, its  doors  closed  to  business  and  its  paper  of  little 
value,  for  some  months.  The  Bank  of  Communications 
was  the  creature  of  Liang  Shih  Yi,  the  clever  and  crafty 
schemer  who  was  the  prime  mover  in  most  of  the 
operations  of  Yuan  Shih  Kai.  Yuan's  death  forced  Liang 
Shih  Yi  into  immediate  exile  to  Hong  Kong.  The  Bank 
of  Communications,  with  possible  assets  of  less  than 
thirty  millions  at  the  outside,  was  found  to  have  lent  more 
than  twice  that  sum  to  Yuan  Shih  Kai's  Government. 

The  Japanese  Government  had  long  had  a  jealous  eye 
on  the  splendid  bit  of  bund  property  in  Hankow  owned 
by  the  Chinese  group,  and  had  offered  fair  sums  in  vain 
in  efforts  to  acquire  it.  The  Bank  of  Communications  was 
in  hopeless  case,  but  neither  Yuan  Shih  Kai  before  his 
death,  nor  Liang  Shih  Yi  after  it,  was  pro-Japanese.  They 
loved  their  fellow-Orientals  in  much  the  same  w^ay  the 
Devil  is  reputed  to  esteem  holy  water. 

An  English  syndicate  of  well-known  British  firms  was 
organised,  and  negotiations  commenced  at  once  with  the 
Chinese  owners  of  the  Hankow  propertv.  Result,  to  keep 
the  land  from  going  into  the  hands  of  the  Japanese  the 
sale  was  made  to  the  Britishers  at  a  price  less  than  half 
of  the  amount  that  had  once  before  been  offered  for  it,  and 
far  below  the  figure  which  Japan  later  declared  her  willing- 
ness to  pay  for  it  if  the  English  group  could  be  induced  to 
sell.  Re-sale  was  not  part  of  the  programme  of  the  British 
group,  however,  and  plans  were  laid  for  tearing  down  the 
old  go-downs  and  erecting  a  series  of  modern  ones  on  the 
site,  which  will  then  be  greatly  increased  in  value. 

British  and  American  capitalists  and  business  houses 
with  aspirations  for  foreign  trade  may  find  an  idea  wrapped 
in  the  history  of  that  transaction,  If  they  are  so  inclined. 


CHAPTER    XI 

THE    GENESIS    OF    THE    HANYEPING 

A  BRIEF  history  of  the  Hanyeping  Iron  and  Coal  Company 
was  given  to  me  by  a  very  astute  Chinese  gentleman,  who 
had  been  for  many  years  in  the  employ  of  either  the  present 
company  or  its  predecessors,  and  who  knew  as  much  about 
the  affairs  of  the  concern  as  any  man  in  Han  Yang. 

Our  chat  was  in  the  very  shadow  of  the  big  ironworks. 
This  was  the  story  of  the  Hanyeping. 

Chang  Chih  Tung,  one  of  China's  really  great  viceroys 
of  the  days  that  are  gone,  was  viceroy  of  what  Chinese 
refer  to  as  "the  two  Kwangs,"  the  neighbouring  provinces 
of  Kwangtung  and  Kwangsi,  when  he  conceived  the  idea 
of  ordering  from  the  Western  world  two  blast  furnaces. 

Chang  Chih  Tung  intended  these  furnaces  for  use  in 
the  mining  areas  of  Kwangtung  and  Kwangsi  when  he 
ordered  them,  but  before  they  were  delivered  to  him  he 
received  orders  from  Peking  to  relinquish  the  viceroyalty 
of  the  two  Kwangs  and  hie  himself  forthwith  to  the  "two 
Hus,"  Hunan  and  Hupeh,  the  provinces  that  lie  due  north 
of  the  provinces  of  Kwangtung  and  Kwangsi. 

So  when  the  two  foreign  blast  furnaces  came  to  be 
delivered  in  China,  Chang  Chih  Tung  ordered  them  to  be 
sent  up  the  Yangtze  River,  as  his  new  seat  of  government 
had  been  transferred  to  the  town  of  Wuchang,  the  capital 
city  of  the  provinces  of  Hupeh.  Wuchang  lies  just  across 
the  river  from  Hankow. 

This  heart  of  the  commercial  world  of  central  China 
consists  of  three  big  cities  grouped  together,  yet  separated 
from  each  other  by  the  two  rivers  that  form  a  junction  at 
that  spot.  Wuchang  was  originally  the  greatest  city  of 
the  three.  It  was  situated  on  the  south  bank  of  the 
Yangtze-Kiang,  and  Han  Yang  lay  immediately  across 
from  it  on  the  north  bank.  Also  on  the  north  bank,  but 
across  the  Han  Shui  River  at  the  point  where  it  flows  into 

48 


THE    GENESIS    OF   THE    HANYEPING      49 

the  Yangtze,  lay  Hankow.  In  these  latter  days  the  guide 
books  say  that  the  three  cities  together  have  a  native 
population  of  1,150,000,  Hankow  leading  with  800,000, 
Wuchang  next  with  250,000,  and  Han  Yang  providing  the 
remaining  100,000.  But  in  the  days  of  Chang  Chih  Tung 
the  marvellous  growth  of  Hankow,  which  commenced 
after  the  191 1  rebellion  in  China,  had  not  as  yet  been 
anticipated,  at  least  by  any  Chinese  mind. 

Therefore,  the  selection  of  Han  Yang  as  a  place  where 
his  two  new  blast  furnaces  could  be  set  up  was  not  due  to 
anything  else  than  to  the  fact  that  Chang  Chih  Tung  had 
bought  them  and  wanted  them  erected  in  a  spot  where  their 
working  could  be  under  his  eye.  That  he  could  study  their 
operation  with  the  minimum  of  inconvenience  was  prob- 
ably much  more  in  Chang  Chih  Tung's  mind  than  that 
they  were  properly  placed  from  a  business  standpoint. 

Two  things  were  necessary  to  the  furnaces — iron  ore 
and  coal,  or  rather  coke,  which  was  the  fuel  required. 

The  Yangtze  Valley  is  rich  in  mines.  Iron  mines  it 
has  in  plenty,  but  none  finer  in  richness  and  the  quality  of 
the  ore  produced  than  the  Tayeh  mines.  These  mines  are 
located  about  19  miles  from  the  south  bank  of  the  Yangtze 
River,  at  a  point  nearly  60  miles  east  of  Hankow.  A  rail- 
way now  runs  from  the  mines  to  the  river,  where  some 
very  businesslike  piers  have  been  constructed.  It  was 
from  the  Tayeh  mines  that  Chang  Chih  Tung  obtained 
the  ore  for  his  new  ironworks. 

But  coke  was  a  different  matter.  There  fortune  did  not 
favour  Chang  Chih  Tung.  He  found  himself  compelled 
to  buy  coke  from  the  Germans  at  so  high  a  price  that  the 
new  works  could  not  turn  out  pig-iron  at  less  than  50  taels 
(^5)  P^r  ton,  which  precluded  the  possibility  of  making 
a  profit.  So  the  concern  was  run  for  some  years  at  a 
decided  loss,  the  Han  Yang  ironworks  and  the  Tayeh 
mines  running  their  respective  businesses  quite  separately 
and  independcntlv  of  each  other  so  far  as  their  manage- 
ment, or  mismanagement,  was  concerned. 

Then  a  new  factor  come  into  the  equation  in  the  form 
of  one  Sheng  Hsun  Ilui,  a  Chinese  with  a  capable  head  on 
his  shoulders.  Sheng  first  cast  his  eyes  about  to  see  what 
could  be  done  to  get  cheaper  fuel.  He  soon  discovered 
and   started    the    Pinghsiang    collierv.      The    Pinghsiang 

E 


50  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

mining  area  is  in  the  province  of  Kiangsi,  to  the  south  of 
the  Yangtze  Valley,  but  connected  with  it  by  the  River 
Siang,  one  of  the  tributaries  of  the  Yangtze.  Thus  fuel 
could  come  direct  by  junk  from  the  mines  to  the  ironworks, 
which  effected  an  enormous  saving. 

The  Pinghsiang  mine  turned  out  to  be  a  big  venture, 
and  is,  now  one  of  the  three  greatest  collieries  in  China, 
the  other  two  being  the  Kailan  mine  in  Chihli  Province 
and  the  Poshan  mine  in  Shantung  Province.  That  this 
trio  of  coal  deposit  areas  should  be  the  subject  of  continual 
attention  on  the  part  of  Japan  gives  these  details  some 
cohesive  interest. 

The  coal-measures  in  the  Pinghsiang  area  extend  for 
7  miles,  with  a  width  of  3  miles.  "The  vein  of  coal," 
says  an  ofificial  Japanese  note  on  the  subject  of  the 
Pinghsiang  colliery,  "extends  for  more  than  60  miles 
towards  the  north-east,  and  it  is  estimated  that  the  mine 
will  last  for  500  years,  placing  the  annual  output  at  one 
million  tons.  In  1913  the  output  from  the  Pinghsiang 
mine  amounted  to  690,000  tons,  of  which  nearly  one-third 
was  converted  into  coke.  There  are  5,000  miners  employed 
directly  in  the  mines,  and  another  4,000  connected  with 
other  branches  of  the  works." 

Thus  Sheng  Hsun  Hui  did  a  fine  stroke  of  business 
for  the  Han  Yang  works  when  he  started  the  Pinghsiang 
coal  and  coke  up  the  Siang  Kiang  to  its  junction  with  the 
Yangtze-Kiang,  and  thence  on  up  that  stream  a  matter  of 
170  miles  to  Han  Yang.  Within  a  comparatively  short 
time  the  price  of  Han  Yang  pig-iron  w^as  reduced  from  50 
taels  per  ton  to  34  taels,  allowing  it  to  compete  in  a  far 
different  way  than  previously  with  its  competitors. 

But  like  all  enterprises  in  Chinese  hands,  mines  and 
works  alike  were  so  mismanaged  and  so  subjected  to  the 
"squeeze  system"  and  the  curse  of  nepotism,  the  family 
clutch  that  holds  most  Chinese  concerns  and  projects 
firmly  by  the  throat,  that  some  of  the  customary  borrowing 
had  been  from  time  to  time  resorted  to. 

Japanese  capitalists  had  advanced  money  on  the  output 
of  the  Tayeh  mines,  and  had  made  smaller  loans  on  Han 
Yang  pig-iron.  Japan  had  proved  the  natural  and  willing 
purchaser  of  most  of  the  pig-iron  produced  at  that  lime, 
though   much   of   it   went   to   the   Han   Yang  steelworks, 


THE    GENESIS    OF    THE    HANYEPING      5i 

worked    in   conjunction   with    the   ironworks  and   side   by 
side  with  them. 

Then  Sheng  Hsun  Ilui  took  liis  second  big  step.  He 
had  got  together  a  company  composed  entirely  of  Chinese^ 
shareholders  in  connection  with  the  Han  Yang  company,' 
and  he  next  put  through  an  amalgamation  of  the  Han 
Yang  Iron  and  Steel  Company,  the  Tayeh  mines  and  the 
Pinghsiang  collieries.  Taking  a  syllable  from  each  of 
the  three  names,  he  christened  the  huge  new  concern  the 
Hanyeping  Iron  and  Steel  Company. 

The  cleverest  feature  of  this  move  was  the  acquisition 
of  the  Tayeh  mines,  the  richness  of  which  is  even  yet 
hardly  known  or  appreciated  by  Occidentals. 

The  Tayeh  ores  are  found  in  low  hills  some  500  feet  in 
height.  To  say  that  one  has  to  mine  for  ore  on  those  hills 
is  hardly  correct.  The  whole  hill  is  in  each  instance  com- 
posed of  iron  ore  containing  as  a  rule  about  67  per  cent, 
of  iron,  which  I  have  Japanese  authority  for  describing  as 
superior  in  quality  to  most  of  the  ores  found  in  Germany, 
America  or  Sweden.  All  the  mining  that  is  necessary  is 
to  blast  the  ore  loose  and  carry  it  away. 

For  accuracy  let  me  quote  a  Japanese  official  descrip- 
tion of  the  layeh  mine  proper,  which  embraces  five  of  the 
nine  hills  of  ore  in  the  immediate  vicinity.  The  report 
says,  "The  vein  of  ore  is  80  metres  thick  and  of  immeasur- 
able length  and  depth,  so  that  the  mine  may  be  regarded 
as  practically  inexhaustible,  its  life  being  roughly  esti- 
mated at  700  years,  placing  the  annual  output  of  the  ores 
at  1,000,000  tons." 

The  Han  Yang  works  had  been  added  to  and  improved 
as  the  years  rolled  by.  Two  more  blast  furnaces  had  been 
installed,  making  four  altogether.  The  steelworks  boasted 
seven  Martin  furnaces  of  30  tons  capacity  each.  All  the 
Han  Yang  steel  was  taken  by  the  railways  of  China. 

Then  came  the  Chinese  Revolution  of  191 1,  and  with 
it  came  events  that  were,  one  day,  to  develop  into  what 
the  Five  Group  Demands  described  as  "close  relations" 
between  the  Japanese  and  the  Hanyeping.  The  second 
set  of  demands  called  them  "very  intimate  relations." 

My  Chinese  friend  at  the  Hanyeping  had  a  very  clear 
idea  as  to  how  all  this  came  about. 

I  will  tell  the  story  just  as  he  told  it  to  me. 


CHAPTER    XII 

A    LOAN    FROM    JAPAN 

"Sheng  Hsun  Hui,  the  man  who  was  responsible  for  the 
organisation  of  the  vast  iron  mines,  coal  mines  and  iron 
and  steelworks  brought  together  under  the  name  Hanye- 
ping  Company,  was  an  official  in  Peking  under  the  Manchu 
Emperor  in  191 1,"  said  my  Chinese  friend,  as  we  sat 
contemplating  the  Han  Yang  works. 

"Sheng  was  Minister  of  the  Board  of  Agriculture  or 
Communications,  I  forget  which.  When  the  Revolution 
of  191 1  broke  out  and  Manchu  rule  went  by  the  board,  it 
behoved  Sheng  to  flee  speedily  from  Peking.  This  he  did, 
taking  refuge  in  Tsing-tau,  from  which  port  he  set  sail  for 
Japan.  This  is  rather  figurative,  for  Sheng  went  to  Japan 
in  a  Japanese  man-of-war.  It  was  natural  that  the 
Japanese  should  be  considerate  of  the  health  of  so  big  a 
creditor  of  Japanese  capitalists.  Plenty  of  Japanese  money 
had  been  lent  to  the  Hanyeping  Company  before  the 
Revolution,  and  Sheng  Hsun  Hui  held  the  largest  number 
of  shares  of  any  individual  interested  in  any  of  its  branches. 
In  fact,  Sheng  held  sufficient  shares  to  secure  for  him 
absolute  control  of  the  concern. 

"Sheng  stayed  in  Japan  for  two  years,  then  came  to 
Shanghai,  where  he  lived  in  the  foreign  concessions  until 
his  death  in  the  spring  of  19 16. 

"When  the  Revolution  of  191 1  started  and  Sheng  fled 
the  country  the  Han  Yang  works  shut  down.  As  the 
months  went  past  the  works  remained  closed,  and  so  the 
year  19 12  found  them.  In  the  spring  of  1912  Sheng,  from 
Japan,  was  heard  from  with  a  vengeance.  A  loan  of  many 
millions  of  yen  had  been  proposed  by  the  Japanese  to 
Sheng,  and  the  whole  thing  was  cut  and  dried  before  the 
shareholders  other  than  Sheng  were  told  anything  about 
the  matter. 

"The  loan  agreement  had  to  be  submitted  to  the  board 

52 


A    LOAN    FROM    JAPAN  53 

of  directors  of  the  company,  of  course,  and  it  was  so  sub- 
mitted. But  the  old  man — he  was  not  far  from  seventy 
years  of  age  at  the  time — had  seven  of  his  own  nominees  on 
the  board  of  nine.  The  two  who  represented  Chinese 
shareholders  of  other  tendencies  than  Sheng's  were  aghast 
at  the  conditions  imposed  by  the  Japanese  who  were  to 
make  the  loan. 

"One  of  the  conditions  that  made  a  considerable  dis- 
turbance at  the  time  was  the  appointment  of  a  Japanese 
auditor  who  was  to  have  access  to  all  the  books  of  the 
company.  Another  condition  was  the  appointment  of  a 
Japanese  technical  adviser.  All  opposition  to  such  innova- 
tions was  in  vain.  Yuan  Sliih  Kai,  then  President  of  the 
Chinese  Republic,  was  appealed  to  and  interested  himself 
in  the  matter,  but  to  no  effect.  The  Central  Government 
v/as  very  short  of  money  and  the  Powers  were  not  disposed 
to  be  generous.  Sheng,  in  theory,  simply  shrugged  his 
shoulders  and  said  to  all  and  sundry  that  if  they  could  get 
for  him  the  necessary  money  elsewhere,  let  them  come  for- 
ward and  do  so  without  delay.  Otherwise,  he  argued,  was 
not  Japanese  money  better  than  none  at  all  ? 

"Eventually  Sheng  had  his  way  and  the  1912  loan  went 
through.  The  Han  Yang  works  resumed  operations  in 
June,  191 2,  after  having  been  closed  down  about  eighteen 
months. 

"1  am  in  close  touch  with  most  matters  regarding  the 
Hanyeping,  but  I  have  never  seen  the  actual  agreement 
which  sets  forth  the  detailed  conditions  of  that  last  big 
loan,"  said  my  Chinese  friend.  "An  important  item  in  the 
sale  of  iron  ore  is  the  price  at  which  it  is  purchased.  One 
condition  of  that  agreement  deals  with  the  subject  of 
price." 

"Just  how  does  the  new  regime  work  out  in  practice?  " 
I  asked.  "  How  does  the  concern  appear  to  be  getting  on  ? 
Japan  is  taking  both  ore  and  pig-iron  from  the  Yangtze 
Valley  now,  is  she  not  ?  " 

"We  have  not  only  sold  iron  ore  and  pig-iron  to  Japan 
during  the  present  European  war,"  said  my  friend,  "but  we 
have  sold  steel  from  Han  Yang  as  well.  The  Japanese 
have  nothing  to  do  with  the  steelworks  as  yet,  in  any  way. 
When  we  sell  steel  to  Japan  we  sell  it  at  the  market  price, 
just  as  we  would  do  to  anyone  else. 


54  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

"You  will  understand  that  the  Japanese  auditor  and  the 
Japanese  technical  adviser  as  provided  for  in  the  loan  only 
have  jurisdiction  over  work  done  which  involves  the  use 
of  the  money  provided  by  the  loan.  That  is  all  up  to  the 
present.  It  was  1914  before  these  two  gentlemen  came  to 
China.  They  brought  but  small  staffs  with  them.  So  far 
we  see  but  few  Japanese  about  the  works,  for  no  reason 
exists  for  their  coming. 

"At  Tayeh,  in  the  iron  mines,  there  are  more  Japanese. 
The  total  output  of  the  Tayeh  mines  is  arranged  by  special 
contract  to  go  to  three  places  :  the  Japanese  Government's 
ironworks  at  Yedamitzu,  their  works  at  Kyushu,  and  our 
own  works  here  at  Han  Yang.  The  Yedamitzu  and 
Kyushu  works  have  an  agency  at  Tayeh  to  look  after  their 
interests  as  buyers  and  shippers. 

"There  are  a  few  skilled  Japanese  labourers  in  the 
Tayeh  mine,  placed  there  in  connection  with  the  work  of 
selecting  the  ore.  One  of  the  conditions  of  the  1912  loan 
was  the  installation  of  new  works  at  Tayeh,  right  at  the 
mines.  Two  new  blast  furnaces  have  been  ordered  for 
Tayeh,  and  the  mines  will,  after  three  new  furnaces  get  to 
work,  have  to  supply  the  four  here  in  our  works  as  well, 
making  six  in  all. 

"As  to  the  present  situation,  first  consider  what  Japan 
is  getting  in  the  way  of  ore  and  pig-iron  from  the  Yangtze. 
She  always  has  steamers  at  Tayeh  loading  raw  ore.  I 
believe  Japan  has  taken  out  a  million  tons  or  more  during 
this  present  year.  Practically  all  of  it  goes  to  the  Govern- 
ment works  in  Japan. 

"Japan  has  taken  about  40,000  tons  of  pig-iron  from 
Han  Yang  this  year  as  well.  It  can  only  be  taken  in 
the  summer  when  the  depth  of  the  river  allows.  Eleven 
Japanese  steamers  have  taken  from  two  to  three  thousand 
tons  each  during  the  recent  season.  You  can  see  another 
loading  now.  The  pig-iron  thus  shipped  from  Han  Yang 
mostly  goes  to  the  Wakamatsu  steelworks  in  Japan.  The 
manager  of  these  works  is  in  Peking  now,  and  is  expected 
down  here  within  a  day  or  so." 

I  met  that  manager  a  week  later  in  Peking. 

"We  would  like  to  see  the  new  works  in  operation  in 
Tayeh,  for  ihey  should  be  able  to  produce  enough  pig-iron 
to  suit  Japan,  and  then  we  could  put  all  our  Han  Yang  pig- 


A    LOAN    FROM    JAPAN  55 

iron  into  steel,  except  for  a  small  surplus  which  we  could 
sell  in  China.  The  two  blast  furnaces  ordered  for  Tayeh 
will  have  a  combined  capacity  of  140  tons  per  day,  while 
each  of  our  four  furnaces  here  in  Man  Yang"  can  handle 
about  220  tons  in  twenty-four  hours.  Only  three  are 
working  now.  One  broke  down,  and  though  it  has 
been  repaired  we  have  not  sufficient  lighters  and  such 
sort  of  water  transport  to  keep  it  going.  We  need 
new  boats,  new  lighters,  new  jetties,  and  all  manner  of 
things. 

"  Rumour  has  said  more  than  once  that  a  Chinese  col- 
liery company  has  been  formed  to  put  up  a  couple  more 
blast  furnaces  at  Tayeh  to  work  some  of  the  mines  the 
Tayeh  company  does  not  own.  Four  of  the  nine  hills  of 
ore  are  owned  by  Chinese  who  are  not  as  yet  working  them. 
The  Hanyeping  Company  is  trying  to  buy  these  four  hills, 
and  has  been  doing  so  for  a  long  time,  but  to  no  effect. 
The  company  is  for  ever  buying  up  lead  and  coal  mines  in 
the  Yangtze  Valley,  but  none  of  them,  except  the  Tayeh 
mines,  is  worked  in  an  up-to-date  way.  The  law  in  China 
provides  that  the  foreigner  can  only  hold  fifty  per  cent,  of 
the  shares  in  any  Chinese  mining  concern.  The  attitude 
of  the  Chinese  in  the  Yangtze,  however,  is  growing  more 
favourable  every  day  to  the  introduction  of  foreign  capital 
into  China's  mining  development." 

"Two  points  interest  me  very  much,"  I  said  as  my 
Chinese  friend  concluded.  "I  would  like  to  know  all  the 
conditions  imposed  on  the  Hanyeping  Company  by  Japan 
in  connection  with  that  loan  of  19 12,  and  that  would  show 
at  once  what  agreement  was  come  to  as  to  the  price  to  be 
paid  for  the  ore.  Further,  I  would  like  to  know  the  attitude 
of  the  Central  Government  with  reference  to  foreign  capital 
being  introduced  into  Chinese  mining  ventures.  Japan's 
effort,  through  the  Five  Group  Demands,  to  get  control 
through  the  Hanyeping  Company  of  all  the  mines  in  the 
Yangtze  Valley  shows  that  there  must  be  other  rich  plums 
there  which  she,  for  some  reason,  is  unable  at  the  moment 
to  reach." 

"I  have  never  seen  the  agreement,"  replied  my  friend. 
"It  should  be  available  in  Peking,  if  you  could  get  permis- 
sion to  see  it.  It  must  be  on  file  there.  You  are  going 
to  Peking,  why  not  ask  the  head  of  the  Government,  the 


56 


THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 


Premier,  for  enlightenment  on  the  two  points  you  have 
mentioned  ?  " 

I  made  up  my  mind  to  do  ai>  he  suggested. 

I  decided  to  ask  General  Tuan  Chi  Jui,  the  Premier,  for 
a  copy  of  the  19 12  loan  agreement  between  the  Hanyeping 
Company  and  Japan,  and  to  discuss  with  him  investment  of 
foreign  capital  in  Chinese  mining  companies. 

Both  subjects  seemed  connected  with  the  question  of 
the  Open  Door. 


CHAPTER    XIll 

A    CHAT    WITH    CHINA'S     PREMIER 

My  visit  to  General  Tuan  Clii  Jui,  Premier  of  the  Republic 
of  China,  at  his  home  in  Peking,  was  arranged  for  me  by 
Dr.  Wu  Chao  Chu,  of  the  Chinese  Foreign  Office,  who 
was  kind  enough  to  act  as  my  interpreter  during  my  inter- 
view with  the  Premier. 

Dr.  Wu  has  not  only  an  excellent  command  of  the 
English  language,  but  brings  to  such  a  task  knowledge 
of  th6  subjects  likely  to  be  discussed  and  a  personal  high 
ability. 

Driving  through  the  North  City,  we  turned  sharply 
from  the  main  thoroughfares,  crow^ded  with  all  manner  of 
traffic,  into  a  short  lane  which  ended  in  a  narrow  driveway, 
flanked  high  on  either  side  with  what  appeared  to  be  an 
artificial  rockery.  As  we  drove  into  this  narrower  way 
we  passed  a  couple  of  Chinese  soldiers  on  sentry  duty. 
The  drive  opened  into  a  small  yard,  in  the  foreground  of 
which  was  the  portico  of  the  Premier's  house,  a  substantial 
but  by  no  means  imposing  edifice.  No  other  sentries  save 
those  at  the  entrance  to  the  farther  drive  were  in  evidence. 

As  we  dismounted  from  the  carriage  and  entered  the 
doorway,  a  servant  stepped  forward  and  took  our  hats  and 
coats  in  quite  the  manner  one  would  expect  one's  servant 
to  do  in  England.  He  hung  our  garments  on  a  hat-stand 
in  the  hallway  that  might  have  found  its  counterpart  in 
tens  of  thousands  of  middle-class  homes  in  the  vicinity  of 
London. 

We  were  ushered  into  a  modern  dining-room  furnished 
with  modern  furniture,  and  therefrom  passed  into  quite  an 
orthodox  conservatory  equipped  as  most  Western  con- 
servatories are  equipped,  except  that  the  chairs  and  sofa, 
on  which  we  were  invited  to  be  seated,  were  upholstered 
in  a  shade  of  yellow  that  would  not  particularly  appeal  to 
the  taste  of  most  Western  housewives. 

57 


58  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

The  atmosphere  of  the  place  was  one  of  simple  comfort 
without  the  slightest  attempt  at  show.  What  struck  me 
most  forcibly  was  the  absence  of  many  of  those  little 
attributes  of  the  average  Chinese  home  for  which  one 
learns  to  look  in  China.  Perhaps  I  felt  the  difference  be- 
tween General  Tuan's  home  and  the  palace  in  which  I 
had  been  received  by  the  President,  General  Li  Yuan 
Hung,  earlier  in  the  day.  Certain  it  was  that  no  two 
homes  could  show  greater  contrast. 

We  had  hardly  been  seated  when  General  Tuan  came 
in. 

General  Tuan  is  of  medium  height  and  weight.  He 
was  attired  in  a  loose,  long  coat  of  light  blue  silk,  buttoned 
close  at  the  neck  and  reaching  to  the  ground.  His  hair, 
cut  close,  is  iron  grey,  and  he  wears  a  straggling  grey  and 
black  moustache  and  small  imperial  of  the  sort  so  fre- 
quently seen  in  China  and  so  rarely  met  with  elsewhere. 
The  Premier's  ears  are  set  rather  far  back,  his  cheekbones 
are  high,  his  nose  quite  flat  at  bridge  and  nostril,  and  his 
chin  is  pointed  without  being  in  any  way  protruding.  At 
first  Tthought  his  eyes  shifty,  but  as  we  talked  they  grew 
more  frank  and  less  inclined  to  leave  mine  when  he  was 
speaking.  Nevertheless,  a  certain  stamp  of  craftiness 
seemed  to  me  to  be  the  Premier's  leading  facial  character- 
istic until  we  had  conversed  for  a  long  time.  Then  this 
passed ;  his  glance  became  much  more  direct,  and  his 
eyes  and  mouth  lost  a  sort  of  evasiveness  that  was  not  pre- 
possessing. Even  had  I  not  heard  that  Tuan  Chi  Jui  was 
an  astute  politician,  I  would  have  imagined  so  upon 
meeting  him. 

Throughout  the  south  and  central  part  of  China  I  had 
met  most  of  the  Chinese  political  leaders  during  the  past 
months,  and  all  had  accorded  to  Tuan  the  first  place 
among  China's  politicians.  He  admittedly  wielded  more 
power  than  any  other  man  in  China.  His  tenure  of  office 
was  not  secure.    Nothing  in  Chinese  politics  is  secure. 

I  was  anxious  to  see  the  agreement  between  the  Chinese 
owners  of  the  Hanyeping  Company  and  the  Japanese 
capitalists  whose  loans  had  given  them  a  strong  hold  on 
the  big  Chinese  concern.  All  sorts  of  stories  were  afloat 
as  to  just  what  advantage  Japan  was  gaining  from  the 
arrangement  under  which  the  company  was  being  worked. 


A    CHAT    WITH    CHINA'S    PREMIER        59 

Explaining-  this  to  General  Tuan  Chi  Jui,  I  asked  him 
if  he  would  be  good  enough  to  get  a  copy  of  the  agreement 
for  me. 

As  I  was  planning  to  leave  Peking  the  next  day,  the 
Premier  said  he  thought  the  time  too  short.  He  would 
try  to  get  it,  but  doubted  if  he  could  do  so  in  the  time 
available.  I  at  once  suggested  that  the  document  should 
be  posted  to  my  address  in  Japan.  I  had  arranged  a  tour 
through  Manchuria  and  Korea,  which  I  hoped  would  land 
me  in  Japan  eventually.  The  General  smiled.  The  post 
to  Japan,  he  explained,  was  not  a  sufficiently  sure  medium. 
Things  had  a  way  of  failing  to  reach  their  destination. 
Why,  he  did  not  pretend  to  know.  Some  people  were  so 
unkind  as  to  say  that  various  folk  who  possessed  an  over- 
whelming interest  in  other  people's  post  had  found  a 
machine  that  would  open  letters  in  such  a  manner  that 
they  could  be  closed  again  and  their  recipients  be  none  the 
wiser.  No,  he  did  not  think  that  if  I  set  such  store  by 
that  agreement  I  had  best  risk  its  transference  from  Peking 
to  Tokyo  by  post . 

I  had  not  been  in  the  Far  East  a  few  months  without 
hearing  something  of  the  same  sort  before.  I  told  the 
Premier  of  a  perfectly  secure  method  by  which  he  could 
send  the  document  to  me.  This  he  promised  to  do  shortly ; 
as  soon,  in  fact,  as  he  could  have  the  agreement  found  and 
a  copy  prepared. 

We  talked  of  the  prospective  loan  to  China  by  the 
Powers.  General  Tuan  said  he  hoped  to  arrange  for  the 
loan  of  one  hundred  million  dollars  (;^20, 000,000).  As 
to  security,  he  thought  that  the  Salt  Gabelle  could  stand  a 
loan  in  that  sum,  in  addition  to  the  loans  it  was  already 
carrying.  As  I  expressed  some  scepticism  on  this  point, 
the  General  declared  that  with  interest  and  sinking  fund 
the  amount  necessary  per  annum  to  meet  the  requirements 
of  such  a  loan  would  not  run  to  more  than  twenty  million 
dollars  (;^4,ooo,ooo).  The  Salt  Tax,  he  said,  was  then 
producing,  and  gave  every  indication  of  being  able  to  con- 
tinue to  produce,  three  million  dollars  (;^6oo,ooo)  monthly 
in  excess  of  what  was  required  to  meet  the  existing  de- 
mands with  which  it  was  at  that  time  faced. 

It  sounded  well  enough,  except  that  the  very  generality 
of  the  quotations  and  the   Premier's  cocksureness  as   to 


6o  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

the  ability  of  the  poor  Salt  Gabelle  to  bear  a  never-ending 
series  of  further  financial  burdens  on  its  broad  back  made 
one  wonder  where  it  would  all  end. 

The  subject  of  the  possible  reorganisation  of  China's 
Land  Tax  was  mentioned.  No  set  of  circumstances, 
averred  General  Tuan  Chi  Jui,  would  ever  tempt  China 
to  let  foreign  hands  touch  the  Land  Tax.  If  Japan  sug- 
gested such  a  thing,  it  w^as  not  due  to  the  necessity  of 
foreign  control  or  supervision  of  the  Land  Tax  for  pur- 
poses of  revenue,  or  to  any  other  question  of  revenue  or 
necessity  therefor.  No,  if  Japan  ever  tried  to  push  forward 
a  suggestion  of  tampering  with  so  vital  and  strictly  in- 
ternal a  question,  a  question  so  eternally  bound  up  with  the 
very  integrity  of  China  itself,  I  could  rest  assured  that 
back  of  the  proposal  Japan  had  other  objects  in  view.  The 
Premier  was  very  bitter  on  this  point.  He  became  quite 
interested  in  the  discussion,  and  I  got  a  glimpse  of  the 
stronger  characteristics  of  the  man. 

"I  am  going  to  Manchuria,"  I  said  to  the  Premier, 
"just  as  the  question  of  the  settlement  of  the  Cheng  Chia 
Tung  affair  comes  up  for.  further  diplomatic  negotiations 
in  Peking.  I  want  to  see  Manchu;"ia  from  more  than  one 
standpoint ;  I  have  arranged  to  see  it  from  the  Japanese 
standpoint.  I  have  laid  my  plans  to  look  through  the 
glasses  of  the  foreign  business  men,  English  and 
American,  in  Manchuria.  To  whom  should  I  go  and  for 
what  should  I  look  if  I  wish  to  study  the  situation  from  the 
Chinese  point  of  view?  " 

Thereupon  General  Tuan  talked  long  and  earnestly. 
The  result  of  my  request  was  a  note  to  a  Chinese  official 
in  Manchuria.  Summed  up  tersely,  the  Premier's  state- 
ments on  Manchuria  and  other  subjects  were  as  follows  : 

The  negotiations  between  Japan  and  China  over  the 
Cheng  Chia  Tung  affair,  a  collision  between  Japanese  and 
Chinese  soldiers  on  the  borders  of  Eastern  Inner  Mongolia, 
found  China  in  a  difficult  position,  particularly  in  view 
of  the  circumstances  brought  about  by  the  European  War. 
China  might  very  probably  have  to  give  way  on  some 
points.  She  would  have  to  give  away  something,  probably. 
But  Japan  was  demanding  a  freedom  of  placing  her  police 
about  Manchuria  and  Mongolia  which  China  was  going 
to  resist  to  the  utmost.     Whatever  he  had  to  give  away, 


A    CHAT    WITH    CHINA'S    PREMIER        6i 

the  Premier  said,  lie  was  determined  to  give  nothing  away 
that  would  be  fatal  to  the  retention  by  China  of  her 
sovereignty  over  Manchuria. 

Japan  only  asked  to  place  police  where  they  were  neces- 
sary, but  Japan  wanted  to  reserve  the  right  to  say  where 
they  were  necessary.  Japan's  contention  w-as  that  the 
Japanese  police  were  needed  to  look  after  unruly  Japanese 
in  Manchuria.  That  was,  General  Tuan  thought,  a  bit 
beside  the  mark.  There  were  plenty  of  unruly  Japanese 
in  Manchuria,  no  doubt.  Frequently  Chinese  soldiers 
killed  members  of  the  many  robber  bands  along  the  Man- 
churia railway  zone  and  found  that  the  corpses  were  those 
of  Japanese.  Prince  Su,  of  the  Manchu  dynasty  that 
once  ruled  China,  lived  at  Port  Arthur.  While  Su  kept 
within  the  Japanese  Leased  Territory,  he  maintained  two 
or  three  thousand  followers  of  sorts,  here  and  there,  a 
mixed  lot,  who  w-ere  perennial  trouble-makers.  Su  got  no 
income  from  Chinese  sources.  General  Tuan  declared. 

The  Premier  was  clearly,  in  his  heart,  much  concerned 
and  perhaps  not  altogether  hopeful  as  to  the  situation  in 
regard  to  Japan's  attitude  toward  Manchuria.  He  seemed 
desirous  of  giving  me  the  impression  that  China  would 
hang  on  as  long  as  she  could  and  put  up  the  best  fight 
she  could,  but  that  her  opponents  held  all  the  cards,  and 
help  seemed  nowhere  in  sight. 

General  Tuan  spoke  at  length  about  the  proposals  of 
some  of  the  reform  politicians  in  China  whereby  they 
would  inaugurate  the  introduction  of  a  number  of  Japanese 
instructors  throughout  China.  The  army,  too,  in  their 
view,  should  be  under  Japanese  instructors.  General 
Tuan  did  not  share  that  opinion.  The  question  was  the 
subject  of  much  talk,  he  said.  The  agreement  with 
General  Aoki,  of  Japan,  whereby  he  should  have  a  high 
advisory  place  in  Peking,  was  by  no  means  confirmed.  I 
would  find,  said  the  Premier,  that  the  Aoki  Agreement 
would  be  hung  up  for  a  long  time  yet  or  materially  revised. 
"Many  of  the  Chinese  of  the  newer  party,  the  younger  ones 
especially,  cannot  see  very  far  ahead,"  said  Tuan;  "many 
of  them  propose  moves  that  would  be  nothing  short  of 
fatal  to  China.  What  we  mav  do  as  to  introducing  foreign 
instructors  and  organisers  into  China's  army  reform  I 
cannot  say.    One  thing  is  sure — we  are  alive  to  the  dangers 


62  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

as  well  as  the  advantages  of  such  a  step,  and  you  need  not 
fear  that  the  dangers  will  be  forgotten  or  lost  sight  of." 

Nevertheless,  General  Aoki's  appointment  followed 
before  many  months  had  passed. 

I  asked  the  Premier  the  attitude  of  the  Chinese  Govern- 
ment with  reference  to  capital  from  the  Western  world 
being  invested  in  Chinese  mining  development.  "In 
plain  English,"  I  said,  "if  you  knew  that  certain  American 
or  British  capitalists  wanted  to  put  a  large  sum  of  money 
into  the  working  of  the  four  hills  in  the  Tayeh  mining 
district  in  the  Yangtze  Valley,  the  four  hills  of  almost 
pure  iron  ore  that  stand  alongside  the  five  similar  hills 
that  belong  to  the  Hanyeping  Company,  how  would  you 
look  on  the  proposition  ?  Japan  has  a  strangle-hold  on 
the  Hanyeping  Company,  and  through  it  on  five  of  the 
hills  which  comprise  the  Tayeh  mine.  Chinese  owners 
are  being  pressed  by  the  Hanyeping  to  sell  to  them  the 
remainder  of  the  mines  in  that  district.  The  Five  Group 
Demands  of  19 15  have  as  one  of  their  objects  the  creating 
of  a  complete  monopoly  of  the  Yangtze  Valley,  whereby 
no  one  but  the  Hanyeping  Company  could  mine  a  single 
ton  of  ore  in  that  whole  area. 

"Japan  is  benefiting  and  hopes  to  benefit  still  more. 
What  about  Western  nations?  Would  you  welcome  them  ? 
Please  think  well  before  you  answer.  More  than  one 
factor  of  China's  future  is  involved  in  China's  attitude  on 
that  question." 

Without  hesitation  General  Tuan  replied,  "We  would 
welcome  the  introduction  of  American  or  British  capital 
on  lines  that  were  equitable  and  fair  to  the  Chinese  owners 
of  the  mines  as  well  as  to  the  men  who  produced  the  money. 
Yes,  we  would  be  quite  willing  to  allow  American  or 
liritish  capital  to  help  develop  the  mining  areas  along 
the  Yangtze — or  anywhere  else  in  China,  iov  the  matter 
of  that." 

Tuan  Chi  Jui  came  to  the  door  with  us  and  shook 
hands  in  a  most  genial  mnnnor.  All  the  former  old  man- 
nerisms were  gone.  The  Premier  had  changed  materially 
in  his  speech  and  appearance.  He  showed  an  infinitely 
more  engaging  personality  than  he  had  shown  during  the 
earlier  part  of  our  interview. 


CHAPTER    XIV 

AN   IMPORTANT    DOCUMENT 

When  I  returned  to  Tokyo,  the  evil-smelling  and  insani- 
tary capital  city  of  Japan,  from  the  Asiatic  continent,  I  was 
delighted  to  find  that  my  channel  of  communication  be- 
tween Peking  and  Tokyo  had  not  failed  me.  The  copy  of 
the  agreement  with  relation  to  the  last  loan  to  the  Hanye- 
ping  Company  was  awaiting  my  arrival.  General  Tuan 
Chi  Jui  had  sent  it  promptly,  as  promised. 

The  copy  was  written  in  Chinese  script.  To  have  it 
translated  in  Japan  would  have  taken  more  time  than  I  had 
at  my  disposal.  As  I  hurried,  homeward-bound,  through 
Shanghai  and  Hong  Kong,  no  opportunity  presented  itself 
for  obtaining  a  translation.  In  London  it  was  not  easy. 
A  journey  to  the  Chinese  Legation  and  another  to  the 
School  of  Oriental  Study  in  the  City  started  the  ball  roll- 
ing, however,  and  so  I  am  able  to  write  without  fear  of 
contradiction  as  to  just  what  were  the  conditions  under 
which  Japan  supplied  the  money  to  the  big  mining  and 
milling  company  in  the  heart  of  the  Yangtze  Valley. 

Three  parties  subscribed  to  the  agreement.  First  came 
the  Hanycping  Coal  and  Iron  Factories  and  Mines  Com- 
pany, Limited,  second  the  Japanese  Ironworks,  and  third 
the  Yokohama  Specie  Bank.  The  casual  reader  of  the 
text  of  the  agreement,  unless  he  had  outside  information, 
could  not  be  supposed  to  know  just  what  concern  is  meant 
by  the  somewhat  vague  term,  "the  Japanese  Ironworks." 
I  was  told  it  meant  the  Impericil  Japanese  works  that 
belong  to  the  Government  of  Japan  itself,  but  I  confess  I 
do  not  know  of  my  own  knowledge  that  the  statement  is 
correct. 

One  thing  I  learned  from  a  careful  study  of  the  trans- 
lation of  that  loan  agreement.  That  was  that  the  average 
Anglo-Saxon  business  man  could,  with  one  hand  tied 
behind  him,  draw  up  an  agreement  that  would  be  infinitely 

63 


64  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

more  easily  understood  than  that  Hanyeping  agreement. 
It  is  hard  to  see  just  what  is  meant  by  the  document  in 
more  than  one  particular. 

To  begin  with,  the  actual  total  amount  of  money  in- 
volved is  by  no  means  clearly  stated.  First,  apparently 
3,000,000  yen  was  advanced  by  the  Yokohama  Specie 
Bank  to  the  company.  Next,  the  sum  of  12,000,000  yen  is 
mentioned  as  the  amount  in  cash  to  be  turned  over  at  once 
to  the  company.  Later  in  the  agreement  the  further  sum 
of  6,000,000  yen,  evidently  a  previous  advance,  appears. 
One  clause  should  mean,  if  the  ordinary  interpretation  is  to  -  - 
be  put  upon  it,  that  15,000,000  yen  is  the  total  sum  dealt 
with  by  the  loan  concerning  ,which  the  agreement  is 
drawn.  Fifteen  million  yen  is  one  and  a  half  million 
pounds  sterling,  or  near  it. 

But  one  of  the  highest  financial  authorities  in  China 
told  me  that  the  total  liabilities  of  the  Hanyeping  Company 
to  the  Yokohama  Specie  Bank,  after  this  loan  was  con- 
cluded, reached  ^2,500,000.  The  loan,  this  authority  said, 
was  used  in  part  to  pay  off  old  debts  to  Chinese  creditors 
amounting  roughly  to  ^500,000,  on  which  interest  varying 
from  9  to  13  per  cent,  was  being  paid  by  the 
company.  The  big  loan  was  also  used,  the  same 
authority  averred,  to  liquidate  other  of  the  company's 
small  debts  to  the  French  and  Russian  banks.  In  short, 
all  other  outstanding  debts  were  cleared  off,  leaving  the 
Yokohama  Specie  Bank  the  sole  creditor  of  the  company. 

It  is  not  vitally  important  whether  the  full  amount  of  tne 
loan  covers  one  and  a  half  million  pounds  or  two  and  a  half 
million  pounds.  It  certainly  cannot  by  any  construction  of 
the  translated  text  exceed  the  latter  figure. 

The  object  of  the  loan,  as  stated  in  the  agreement,  is 
the  inauguration  of  two  new  furnaces  at  the  Tayeh  mines; 
the  introduction  of  "extension  and  reform  "  into  the  iron- 
works at  Han  Yang;  and  a  similar  extension  and  reform 
to  be  applied  to  the  railway  and  electric  supply  factories 
of  Tayeh,  and  the  coal  depots,  electric  factories,  etc.,  at 
Pinghsiang. 

In  return  for  the  advance  of  the  money  to  effect  all  this, 
the  Bank  received  a  mortgage  over  all  the  company's 
property  situated  at  Tayeh,  Pinghsiang,  and  Han  Yang; 
the  right  to  appoint  a  Japanese  accountant  and  a  Japanese 


AN    IMPORTANT    DOCUMENT  65 

technical  adviser;  and  the  further  security  of  annual  de- 
livery of  tixed  quantities  of  iron  ore  and  pig-iron  to  the 
Japanese  Ironworks.  The  last  consideration  is,  of  course, 
the  chief  one.  The  agreement  makes  no  bones  of  that.  It 
says  in  direct  enough  fashion,  "The  security  for  the  loan 
shall  be  the  pig-iron  and  ore  which  the  company  shall  sell 
to  the  ironworks." 

"The  redemption  of  the  loan,"  says  the  fourth  Article  of 
the  agreement,  "shall  be  made  by  delivery  of  ore  and  pig- 
iron  at  rates  stipulated  in  Article  7.  The  period  of  redemp- 
tion shall  be  forty  years."  From  the  seventh  to  the  six- 
teenth year,  not  less  than  120,000  yen  shall  thus  be  repaid 
annually.  From  the  seventeenth  to  the  thirty-sixth  year, 
the  value  of  the  ore  and  pig  shall  be  not  less  than  300,000 
yen  annually-  From  the  thirty-seventh  to  the  fortieth  year, 
the  minimum  jumps  to  400,000  yen  worth  of  ore  and  pig 
per  annum. 

Then  comes  an  Article  worth  quoting  in  full.  "In  case 
the  company  should  be  able  to  raise  Chinese  capital,"  it 
says,  "or  real  Chinese  shares,  which  beside  meeting  the 
expenditure  and  obligation  of  new  and  old  debts  have  still 
a  surplus,  or  in  case  the  profits  of  the  company  have  become 
so  large  that,  after  deducting  the  dividend  and  bonus  and 
setting  aside  reserve  fund,  there  is  still  a  surplus,  the 
Bank  shall  agree  to  the  proposal  of  the  company  to  redeem 
the  full  amount  of  the  principal  and  interest  of  this  loan,  or 
any  sum  remaining  unpaid  at  that  time.  However,  six 
months'  notice  must  be  given  to  the  Bank." 

That  is  as  typically  Japanese  as  anything  I  saw  in 
Japan . 

That  clause  says  in  brief  that  the  Chinese  can  buy  back 
the  Hanyeping  from  Japanese  control  with  Chinese  money 
or  with  actual  surplus  profits.  In  the  light  of  that  bene- 
ficent proposal,  read  the  following  : 

All  the  price  paid  by  the  Japanese  Ironworks  for  the 
purchase  of  ore  and  pig  shall  be  deposited,  in  the  name  of 
the  Hanyeping  Company,  in  the  Yokohama  Specie  Bank," 
which  shall  adjudicate  the  apportionment  of  such  sums  to 
interest,  redemption  of  the  loan,  etc. 

"The  payment  of  the  proceeds  and  the  repayment  of  the 
capital  and  interest  shall  be  made  in  Yokohama."  The 
Hanyeping  Company  agrees  to  employ  a  Japanese  as  ad- 

F 


66  THE   FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

viser  of  all  their  doings,  a  Japanese  who  is  the  selection  of 
the  Bank,  and  whom  the  Hanyeping  Company  cannot  dis- 
charge without  the  consent  of  the  Bank.  The  papers  of  the 
company,  all  letters,  documents,  and  records,  can  be 
shown  by  this  adviser  to  the  Yokohama  Specie  Bank.  That 
the  agreement  clearly  stipulates.  The  Bank  handles  all  the 
money.  The  Bank  keeps  all  the  money  in  Yokohama.  The 
Bank  appoints  the  man  who  is  to  control  the  business.  The 
Bank  sees  all  the  inside  working  of  the  concern. 

Finally,  the  Bank  is  very  unlikely  to  lose,  for  Japan  has 
its  hold  on  the  Hanyeping,  no  matter  how  much  Chinese 
capital  might  be  forthcoming  or  how  much  profit  the 
company  might  make.  That  is  my  opinion.  I  did  not 
find  that  statement  in  the  agreement. 

Article  9  should  not  be  forgotten.  It  says:  "In  case 
the  company  should  desire  to  contract  loans  or  advances 
from  banks  or  capitalists  who  are  not  Chinese,  it  should 
give  preference  to  the  Yokohama  Specie  Bank.  If  the 
Bank  fails  to  meet  the  company's  need,  the  company  will 
be  free  to  raise  means  from  other  sources."    Quite  so. 

The  interest  on  the  loan,  from  the  first  to  the  sixth  year, 
the  agreement  fixes  at  seven  per  cent.  Thereafter  it  may 
not  be  lower  than  six  per  cent.,  but  is  left  to  be  fixed  by  the 
Bank  and  the  company,  "according  to  the  condition  of  the 
market."    Quite  so,  again. 

The  foregoing  shows  the  strangle-hold  that  the  Japa- 
nese have  obtained  on  the  Hanyeping  Company,  the 
greatest  single  enterprise  in  the  Yangtze  Valley. 

What  price  does  Japan  pay  the  Hanyeping  for  the  iron 
ore  and  pig-iron  that  she  gets  from  Tayeh  and  Han  Yang? 
That  is  not  so  easy  a  question  to  answer,  even  when  one  is 
in  possession  of  the  loan  agreement  itself. 

Article  4  says,  "at  the  rates  stipulated  in  Article  7." 

Article  8  says,  "if  the  price  referred  to  in  Article  7  be 
insufficient  to  cover  the  interest  and  capital  of  the  new  and 
old  loans  due  to  the  Bank,  the  company  must  make  good 
the  deficit  in  ready  money." 

Article  7  itself  says  that  "all  the  price  paid  by  the  iron- 
works shall  be  deposited  in  the  Bank,"  but  not  a  word 
does  it  say  as  to  how  much  per  ton  shall  be  paid  the  Hanye- 
ping Company  for  its  iron  ore  or  its  pig-iron. 

Before  I  left  the  East,  the  highest  financial  authority  in 


AN    IMPORTANT    DOCUMENT  67 

China  told  me  that  the  Hankow  Customs  Report  for  1912 
stated  that  the  market  price  for  iron  ore  from  the  Yangtze 
Valley  was  twelve  shillings  and  sixpence  per  ton.  "The 
Japanese,"  said  this  authority,  "for  the  last  few  years  have 
been  paving-  but  six  shillings  per  ton  for  iron  ore  delivered 
to  them  f.o.b.  in  the  Yangtze."  Moreover,  this  authority 
said  quite  distinctly  that  the  loan  agreement  I  have  been 
discussing  in  this  chapter  stated  that  the  price  of  iron  ore 
and  pig-iron  w-as  to  be  fixed  biennially  with  reference  to  the 
market  rate.  All  I  can  say  to  that  is  that  my  copy,  fur- 
nished to  me  by  the  Premier  of  China,  shows  no  such  para- 
graph. 

Even  did  it  do  so,  however,  the  outside  world,  or  any- 
one else  who  was  not  in  intimate  touch  with  either  the 
Hanyeping  Company,  the  Japanese  Ironworks,  or  the 
Yokohama  Specie  Bank,  would  not  know  what  Japan  has 
been  paying  for  Chinese  ore  and  pig  in  1916.  That  is  sure. 
I  discovered  in  quite  a  roundabout  way  the  price  paid  by 
the  Yokohama  Specie  Bank  for  ore  from  the  Tayeh  mine. 
In  1916  the  price  w^as  three  yen  per  ton  plus  two  yen  per 
ton,  the  latter  figure  representing  the  cost  of  transportation 
to  Japan. 

When  this  loan  agreement  was  concluded,  the  Govern- 
ment of  China  notified  the  Hanyeping  Company  that  the 
Government  must  regard  the  agreement  as  invalid,  in  view 
of  the  promulgation,  in  the  year  1913,  of  an  order  made  by 
the  President  prohibiting  foreign  acquisition  of  China's 
mining  interests.  The  heads  of  the  Yokohama  Specie  Bank 
laughed.  They  held  a  mortgage  on  the  Hanyeping  prior 
to  the  issue  of  the  President's  order  of  1913,  they  said,  and 
consequently  were  not  affected  by  it. 

And  apparently,  in  that,  they  were  on  safe  ground. 

For  that  matter,  they  are  on  safe  enough  ground  all 
through,  in  the  little  matter  of  the  Hanyeping. 


•     CHAPTER    XV 

A    CYNICAL    VIEW    FROM    PEKING 

"What  are  your  plans  for  to-day?"  asked  my  friend  The 
Cynic. 

We  were  in  Peking  in  the  glorious  month  of  October, 
igi6. 

"I  have  an  appointment  with  Sir  John  Jordan,  the 
British  Minister,  at  ten  o'clock  this  morning,"  I  replied; 
"and  at  eleven  o'clock  I  am  to  call  on  Baron  Hayashi,  the 
Japanese  Minister.  Those  two  appointments  will  effectually 
dispose  of  this  forenoon." 

"Humph  !  "  ejaculated  the  cynical  one;  "a  lot  you  will 
learn  about  the  Japanese-Chinese  question  from  either  of 
the  gentlemen  mentioned  I  If  Sir  John  tells  you  anything 
it  will  be  for  your  private  ear,  if  it  is  interesting.  If 
Hayashi  tells  you  anything  out  of  the  ordinary  it  will  be 
for  publication  or  for  general  dissemination,  and  with  a 
reason." 

The  Cynic  had  lived  too  long  in  the  Far  East,  and  I 
told  him  so,  plainly. 

"You  are  actually  becoming  anti-Japanese,"  I  warned 
him.  "You  are  getting  into  a  frame  of  mind  where  you 
can  see  no  good  in  anything  out  here  in  the  Orient." 

"Live  here  for  the  years  I  have  lived  here,  in  Japan  and 
China,"  was  the  reply,  as  The  Cynic  nodded  his  grey  head 
sagely,  "and  you  will  lose  some  of  your  illusions.  If  I 
have  lived  too  long  in  the  East,  you  have  lived  too  long 
away  from  it,  my  son." 

Perhaps  we  were  both  right. 

"At  all  events,"  continued  my  friend,  "come  to  tiffin 
with  me  at  the  Wagon-Lit  and  we  will  discuss  the  net 
result  of  your  researches  into  present-day  political  condi- 
tions. In  spite  of  your  scorn  of  my  opinions  I  may  be 
able  to  fill  in  some  of  the  gaps  for  you." 

I  readily  agreed.     The  Cynic  was  wrong.     I  held  his 

68 


A   CYNICAL   VIEW    FROM    PEKING         69 

opinions  in  anything  but  scorn.  I  knew  him  as  one  of 
the  most  astute  and  well-informed  men  the  Orient  holds. 
I  doubt  if  any  Anglo-Saxon  knows  the  Island  Empire  of 
the  East  so  well.  I  looked  forward  not  a  little  to  what 
he  would  have  to  say  at  tiffin-time. 

I  found  Sir  John  Jordan  well.  He  is  a  good  type  of 
British  Minister.  Some  there  are  in  China  who  argue 
that  Sir  John  has  been  so  thoroughly  wrapped  up  in  what 
has  transpired  in  China  for  so  many  years  that  he  is  out 
of  touch  with  the  outside-China  view  of  things.  I  found 
no  evidences  of  that. 

"China  is  drifting  badly  from  a  financial  standpoint," 
said  Sir  John;  "borrowing  money  at  something  like  eleven 
per  cent,  to  pay  off  loans  at  five  per  cent,  is  not  produc- 
tive of  a  promising  business  outlook.  Things  along  that 
line  out  here  seem  to  be  going  from  bad  to  worse.  One 
fear  is  ever  present  with  those  who  can  see  China's 
financial  difficulties.  If  she  gets  a  loan  extended  to  her 
there  is  no  apparent  guarantee  that  within  six  months  the 
money  will  not  be  all  gone  and  China  in  the  same  hole 
again.  In  fact,  that  seems  rather  a  probability,  if  not  a 
certainty,  from  present  indications." 

We  discussed  the  political  leaders  in  China  in  1916  at 
some  length.  President  Li  Yuan  Hung  was  a  fine  old 
man,  of  very  lovable  personality,  honest  as  the  day  is  long, 
Sir  John  said.  The  Premier,  Tuan  Chi  Jui,  had  a  con- 
siderable following.  China  was  in  need  of  a  very  strong 
man  at  the  helm.  No  ordinary  leader  was  sufficient  for 
her  quandary. 

Prophecy  was  not  in  Sir  John's  line,  but  I  gathered 
after  a  chat  on  many  phases  of  the  situation  that  he  con- 
sidered that  there  was  little  likelihood,  in  his  estimation, 
of  any  serious  development  in  the  Eastern  problem,  except 
along  the  lines  of  finance.  The  next  loan  to  China  would 
be  the  crux.    That  was  his  idea. 

We  talked  long  on  the  crisis  in  Japan  and  spoke  of 
Count  Terauchi,  the  new  Japanese  Premier.  Sir  John, 
like  most  people  in  the  East,  was  interested  to  see  what 
would  be  the  policy  of  the  new  Japanese  leader  and  his 
Cabinet.  Sir  John  spoke  in  high  terms  of  his  Japanese 
colleague  in  China,  Baron  Hayashi.  The  Japanese 
Minister,  said  Sir  John,  was  a  man  of  ability  who  knew 


70  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

China  well,  a  man  of  fine  personal  characteristics.  There 
was  no  doubt  that  Sir  John  was  glad  that  Hay  ash  i  had 
been  sent  to  Peking  by  Japan  at  that  time,  so  far  as  Baron 
Hayashi  himself  W'as  concerned.  The  manner  in  which 
Hayashi  was  handling  the  Cheng  Chia  Tung  incident 
seemed  to  indicate  to  Sir  John  that  Hayashi's  policy  was 
not  to  be  described  as  harsh  toward  China,  at  least  so  far 
as  it  had  gone. 

It  was  high  noon  l^efore  I  left  Sir  John's  office,  and 
the  two  hours  had  slipped  by  so  rapidly  that  I  did  not 
realise  I  had  been  listening  to  him  for  anything  like  so 
long. 

My  rickshaw  sped  the  short  distance  from  the  gate  of 
the  British  Legation,  along  the  canal,  over  the  bridge, 
and  back  along  the  other  side  of  the  canal  to  the  gate 
of  the  Japanese  Legation  in  quick  time. 

Baron  Gonsuke  Hayashi  is  a  very  charming  man.  He 
surrounds  himself  with  the  least  possible  formality.  Long 
years  in  the  diplomatic  service  of  his  country  have  given 
him  a  very  broad  point  of  view.  He  was  in  London  for 
a  time,  as  Japanese  Consul-General,  and  thus  had  an 
opportunity  to  gain  some  idea  of  English  characteristics, 
and  the  British  way  of  looking  at  things. 

In  1915,  when  Viscount  Kato  was  Foreign  Minister  in 
Japan  and  Mr.  Hioki  was  Japanese  Minister  in  Peking, 
and  the  famous  or  infamous — just  as  you  look  at  them— 
Twenty-one  Clause  (Five  Group)  Demands  were  presented 
by  Japan  to  China,  Baron  Hayashi  was  the  Ambassador 
from  Japan  to  Italy. 

When  scapegoats  were  sought,  and  Viscount  Kato  was 
succeeded  at  the  Japanese  Foreign  Office  by  Viscount 
Ishii,  Baron  Hayashi  was  recalled  from  Europe  to  be  sent 
to  Peking  in  Hioki's  place.  When  these  changes  were 
made  the  tw^o  gentlemen  thus  replaced  were  by  no  means 
branded  as  scapegoats,  but  the  trend  of  things  as  time 
passes  shows  that  Japan  is  not  unwilling  that  the  world 
should  look  upon  them  in  something  of  that  light  in  con- 
nection with  the  Five  Group  piece  of  business.  Hioki 
retired  from  the  diplomatic  service  and  for  a  time  lived 
quietly  in  Tokyo,  and  if  report  was  true  he  was  not  alto- 
gether pleased  with  the  light  in  which  his  Government 
persisted    in    placing   his   part    in    the   Five   Group  affair. 


A    CYNICAL    VIEW    FROM    PEKING        71 

Viscount  Kato  had  a  nasty  slap  from  the  Genro  by  their 
flat  refusal  to  follow  Marquis  Okuma's  advice  and  select 
Kato  as  Premier.  That  the  blow  fell  on  constitutional 
government  in  Japan  as  an  institution,  no  less  than  on 
Kato  himself,  could  afford  but  little  satisfaction  to  him. 

When,  in  the  summer  of  1916,  Baron  Hayashi,  Ambas- 
sador at  Rome,  was  transferred  to  Peking  as  Minister, 
it  was  given  out  in  Tokyo  that  he  was  "to  retain  his 
prestige,  privileges  and  place  in  the  very  front  rank  of 
Japan's  diplomatic  corps."  Never  before  in  the  diplomatic 
history  of  Peking  had  such  a  thing  taken  place.  The 
seriousness  of  the  situation  in  China  was  the  reason  given 
by  Japan  for  this  step  of  placing  a  substantive  ambassador 
in  charge  of  a  legation. 

I  remember  at  the  lime  that  a  member  of  the  Chinese 
diplomatic  corps  told  me  that  China  had  been  advised  by 
Japan  that  Baron  Hayashi  would  retain  the  privileges  of 
an  ambassador  while  bearing  the  title  of  Minister. 

I  was  not  sure  just  what  that  meant,  and  took  the  first 
opportunity  of  asking  about  it  from  Mr.  Guthrie,  the 
American  Ambassador  in  Tokyo,  who  bore  the  reputation 
of  a  considerable  knowledge  of  international  law.  From 
a  long  dissertation  on  the  subject  of  ambassadors  in  general 
I  gathered  that  the  only  material  difference  between  the 
treatment  that  must  be  meted  out  to  an  ambassador  and  a 
minister  by  the  Power  to  whom  he  is  accredited,  is  that 
an  ambassador  cannot  be  refused  an  audience  with  the 
head  of  the  Government,  while  a  minister  requests  such 
an  audience,  and  must,  if  the  head  of  the  Government 
desires,  await  the  convenience  of  such  head.  Not  much 
in  that,  especially  when  one  is  dealing  with  China,  who 
is  not  only  always  ready  and  willing  to  accord  all  reason- 
able requests  on  the  part  of  anyone,  but  would  as  soon 
think  of  cutting  off  its  own  head  as  wilfully  offending  the 
slightest  susceptibility  of  its  Oriental  neighbour. 

No,  I  do  not  think  Baron  Hayashi  would  have  had  to 
ask  twice  to  see  Tuan  Chi  Jui,  whether  he  asked  as  Am- 
bassador, Minister  or  just  plain  private  individual. 


CHAPTER   XVI 

BARON    HAYASHI    ON    THE    FIVE    GROUP    DEMANDS 

Baron  Gonsuke  Hayashi,  His  Imperial  Japanese 
Majesty's  Minister  in  Peking  in  1916,  has  a  most  cultured 
and  courteous  manner.  It  is  a  manner  that  does  not  im- 
press one  as  being  merely  the  product  of  habits  of  external 
politeness,  when  all  the  time  there  is  another  feeling  inside 
the  breast  of  the  bowing,  smiling,  complimentary,  almost 
obsequious  exponent  of  what  may  in  some  parts  of  the 
Orient  be  considered  good  form. 

Baron  Hayashi  impresses  one  as  being  real,  to  begin 
with.  He  impressed  me  as  being  honest  and  straight- 
forward. Personally,  I  would  trust  Baron  Hayashi.  He 
has  a  most  intelligent  face,  a  kind  face,  and  his  eyes  are 
frank  and  his  gaze  thoughtful  and  steady.  He  speaks 
English  as  well  as  any  of  us.  Further,  he  thinks  in 
English,  which  is  a  thing  but  few  of  his  compatriots  can 
do— fewer  of  them,  in  point  of  fact,  than  you  would 
imagine. 

"How  did  you  like  being  sent  to  Peking  again, 
Baron?"  I  asked. 

"Naturally,  I  did  not  like  to  leave  Europe  at  such  a 
time  as  this,"  he  replied.  "For  more  than  one  reason  I 
would  have  preferred  to  stay  where  I  was.  But  the  Foreign 
Office  was  very  insistent." 

I  asked  Baron  Hayashi  for  some  explanation  of  one  or 
two  things  I  could  not  understand.  For  one  thing,  I  told 
him  I  could  neither  follow  Marquis  Okuma's  foreign  policy 
towards  China,  nor  could  I  make  Viscount  Kato's  action 
as  Foreign  Minister  at  the  time  the  Five  Group  Demands 
were  presented  to  China  by  Japan  seem  consistent  with 
what  was  generally  considered  to  be  his  personal  character- 
istics. Okuma's  actions,  or  at  least  those  of  the  Govern- 
ment of  which  he  was  the  head,  were  not  consistent  with 
his  declared  attitndo  toward  China.     Kato,  whose  reputa- 

72 


HAYASHI  ON  THE  FIVE  GROUP  DEMANDS  73 

tion  with  all  who  knew  him  was  thai  of  a  man  of  high  indi- 
vidual honour,  had  been  guilty  of  an  action,  in  his  capacity 
as  Foreign  Minister  of  Okuma's  Cabinet,  that  could  not  be 
characterised  iis  straight  dealing  by  any  sort  of  diplomatic 
construction. 

I  put  it  a  little  less  baldly  than  that,  but  that  was  the 
situation  as  I  read  it,  and  there  was  no  use  trying  to  WTap 
up  such  conclusions  in  unnecessary  verbiage. 

"As  to  Marquis  Okuma's  foreign  policy,  in  so  far  as  it 
affected  China,"  said  Baron  Hayashi,  "it  seems  to  me,  he 
had  no  policy  worthy  of  the  name.  If  he  had  wanted  in- 
ternal peace  in  China,  which  he  was  supposed  to  desire,  to 
allow  trouble  in  Southern  China  and  trouble  in  Northern 
China  without  putting  forward  the  least  effort  to  assist 
China  to  stop  either  was  not  particularly  indicative  of  such 
desire.  His  policy  w'as  neither  one  thing  nor  the  other. 
You  say  you  could  not  follow  it.  No  one  could.  I  confess 
I  could  not. 

"  I  was  equally  at  sea  with  reference  to  Viscount  Kato's 
action  at  the  time  of  the  presentation  of  the  Five  Group 
Demands  to  China.  Viscount  Kato  is  my  old  chief.  I 
have  a  very  high  opinion  of  him  personally.  When  he  sent 
China  a  Note  containing  five  groups,  however,  and  then 
sent  to  England  what  purported  to  be  a  copy  of  his  Note  to 
China,  and  that  copy  only  contained  four  of  the  groups  and 
omitted  the  fifth  altogether,  which  was  directly  a  breach  of 
the  agreement  contained  in  the  Anglo-Japanese  Alliance, 
he  did  something  which  I  can  no  more  explain  than  you 
can.  Outside  of  the  question  of  probity  involved  his  action 
was  unbelievably  foolish. 

"But  that  was  not  all.  Not  only  did  Viscount  Kato 
withhold  the  Fifth  Group  from  England,  but  when  he 
transmitted  the  text  of  the  Five  Group  Demands  to  the 
Genro,  the  Elder  Statesman  Party  in  Japan,  the  text  he 
gave  them  was  identical  with  the  text  that  he  had  sent  to 
Great  Britain.  That  was  a  most  extraordinary  thing.  The 
Genro  discovered  the  existence  of  the  Fifth  Group,  not 
from  Viscount  Kato,  but  from  England.  Naturally  they 
were  very  angry.  They  will  not  easily  forgive  Viscount 
Kato  for  that.  His  action  in  that  incident  is,  in  my 
opinion,  the  fundamental  reason  why  the  Genro  would 
have  none  of  Viscount  Kato  as  Premier,  even  though  he 


74  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

had  the  support  of  the  majority  of  the  Diet  and  was 
Marquis  Okuma's  choice  as  his  successor. 

"I  can  think  of  only  one  explanation  that  would  have 
any  bearing-  on  Viscount  Kato's  action  in  that  matter.  He 
may  have  put  the  Fifth  Group  of  Demands  or  Desires  for- 
ward to  China  purely  as  a  secret  document  between  Yuan 
Shih  Kai  and  himself.  Yuan  made  certain  suggestions  to 
Japan  at  the  time  he  promulgated  his  monarchical  scheme. 
When  he  was  about  to  take  the  Imperial  Throne  in  China 
he  sent  the  Chinese  Minister  in  Tokyo  to  Marquis  Okuma 
and  asked  what  the  attitude  of  Japan  would  be.  Okuma 
said  he  considered  the  matter  one  that  was  so  purely  an 
internal  question  for  China  herself  to  settle  that  he  would 
not  interfere  one  way  or  the  other.  Later,  pressure  in  Japan 
evidently  forced  Okuma  to  take  another  view,  somewhat. 
Perhaps  Yuan  had  something  to  do  with  the  inception  of 
certain  suggestions  from  Japan. 

"However  that  may  be.  Viscount  Kato  must  have  been 
both  out  of  touch  with  Far  Eastern  politics  and  unaware 
of  Yuan  Shih  Kai's  true  character  to  have  depended  upon 
keeping  the  Five  Group  Demands,  or  any  part  of  them, 
secret  once  they  had  been  submitted  to  China.  Yuan  Shih 
Kai  promised  to  keep  them  secret  until  such  time  as  both 
parties  agreed  to  their  publication.  Of  course  he  did 
nothing  of  the  kind.  Anyone  who  knew  Yuan  Shih  Kai 
would  have  known  that,  in  the  beginning. 

"Look  at  Yuan  Shih  Kai's  record.  Think  of  his  trait- 
orous conduct  to  the  young'  Emperor  of  China  years  ago, 
in  the  days  of  the  Empress  Dowager.  The  young  Emperor 
secretly  planned  certain  initial  steps  toward  reform.  He 
gathered  around  him  several  young  Chinese,  who  were  to 
assist  him  in  his  plans.  Calling  in  Yuan  Shih  Kai,  the 
Emperor  told  him  of  their  projects.  Yuan  went  straight 
to  the  Empress  Dowager  and  betrayed  the  reformers.  The 
result  was  that  Kang  Yu  Wei  made  good  his  escape, 
and  all  the  other  reformers  were  put  to  death,  except 
Liang  Chi  Chiao,  whom  you  saw  the  other  day  in 
Shanghai. 

"I  was  Minister  in  Peking  at  the  time.  Young  Liang 
Chi  Chiao  came  to  me  one  afternoon,  and  told  me  the 
whole  thing.  Later  in  the  day  he  came  again,  and  said  he 
was  soon  to  be  put  to  death  if  caught.     I  did  not  know 


HAYASHI  ON^THE  FIVE  GROUP  DEMANDS  75 

what  to  do  with  him,  but  he  had  come  to  me  so  frankly 
that  I  decided  to  help  him  if  I  could.  I  housed  him  that 
night  in  the  Legation,  and  managed  to  send  him  off  to 
Japan  the  next  day." 

As  Baron  Hayashi  chatted  about  those  hectic  days  in 
China,  my  mind  w^ent  back  to  Hong  Kong,  where  a  few 
months  before  Liang  Shih  Yi,  once  right-hand  man  and 
arch-schemer  for  Yuan  Shih  Kai,  had  said  to  me,  "Liang 
Chi  Chiao  has  done  more  to  introduce  Japanese  influence 
into  China  than  any  other  man  alive."  It  Liang  Shih  Yi 
was  in  any  degree  correct  in  his  statement,  which  may  or 
may  not  be.  Baron  Hayashi  builded  better  than  he  knew, 
perhaps,  the  night  he  saved  the  life  of  the  young  Chinese 
reformer.  At  all  events,  Liang  Chi  Chiao  had  the 
most  gifted  and  eloquent  pen  of  any  Chinese  alive 
in  1916. 

"That  was  only  one  of  Yuan  Shih  Kai's  deeds  that 
showed  him  to  be  untrustworthy,"  continued  Baron 
Hayashi.  "Time  after  time  he  demonstrated  that  fact. 
Take  the  incident  of  the  Chinese  Revolution  in  191 1.  Yuan 
had  been  sent  from  Peking,  only  to  be  called  back  when 
the  revolution  broke  out.  He  was  the  only  man  in  China 
who  could  deal  with  it.  He  took  charge  of  the  Imperial 
troops  at  Hankow,  won  the  day,  and  then  coolly,  seeing 
the  drift  of  coming  events,  returned  to  Peking  in  spite  of 
his  success  in  Hupeh,  and  drove  out  the  Manchu  Dynasty, 
one  day  to  usurp  the  throne  he  told  them  that  they  must 
vacate.  That  was  the  sort  of  man  that  Viscount  Kato 
trusted,  apparently,  to  do  what  it  w^as  most  unlikely  he 
would  do  from  half  a  dozen  standpoinis." 

Baron  Hayashi  was  undoubtedly  no  keen  admirer  of 
Yuan  Shih  Kai. 

I  have  never  found  a  Japanese  who  was  fond  of  Yuan. 

This  universal  lack  of  love  for  Yuan  on  the  part  of  the 
Japanese  he  did  not  worry  much  about,  it  is  said.  On  the 
contrary,  he  returned  their  dislike  with  interest,  did  Yuan 
Shih  Kai. 

He  had  his  good  points.  One  of  them  was  that  he  was 
a  fighter  against  anyone  he  thought  an  enemy. 

But  interesting  as  China's  history  has  been  for  the  past 
couple  of  decades,  I  was  much  more  concerned  with  what 
was  likely  to  happen  in  China  in  the  near  future. 


76  THE    FAR   EAST  UNVEILED 

I  found  Baron  Hayashi  by  no  means  averse  to  discuss- 
ing the  existing  situation  and  commenting  on  the  trend  of 
the  events  that  were  likely  to  follow  the  selection  of  Count 
Terauchi  by  the  Genro  as  Premier  in  Japan. 

No  man  knows  Chinese  politics  or  Chinese  political 
characteristics  better  than  Baron  Hayashi,  and  I  listened 
closely  to  his  view  of  what  must  be  done  to  help  China  out 
of  her  difficulties. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

A    CONCRETE    SUGGESTION 

"I  DO  not  wish  to  ask  a  question  that  you  could  not  be 
expected  to  answer,"  1  said  to  Baron  Hayashi,  "but  let 
me  outline  what  a  friend  of  mine  in  Japan  thinks  of  the 
prospects  of  a  continuation  on  the  part  of  the  Japanese 
Government  of  a  policy  that  might  be  described  as  moderate 
towards  China. 

"This  is  the  way  my  friend  in  Japan,  a  Japanese  who  is 
very  well  known  in  England,  puts  the  matter.  Count 
Terauchi  has  been  made  Premier  at  the  command  of  the 
Genro,  and  at  the  dictation  of  the  Military  Party  in  Japan. 
He  does  not,  so  far  as  is  at  present  known,  carry  with  him 
a  majority  of  the  Diet,  which  is  supposed  to  support  Kato. 
If  Count  Terauchi  should  direct  a  policy  towards  China 
that  was  a  harsh  policy,  a  policy  such  as  the  anti-Japanese 
element  in  the  treaty  ports  of  China  prophesy  will  be  pro- 
mulgated shortly,  he  would  not  have  the  Diet  at  the  back 
of  him.  It  would  be  against  him.  Then  would  come  a 
test  as  to  whether  constitutional  government  in  Japan 
really  exists.  My  friend  thinks  that  Japan  has  gone  so 
far  along  the  road  of  constitutional  government  that  no 
Premier  could  retain  his  seat  in  the  face  of  the  absolute 
enmity  of  the  Diet.  Thinking  that,  my  friend  declares  that 
the  policy  of  Terauchi's  Cabinet  is  not  likely  to  embody 
anything  that  w'ill  spectacularly  threaten  the  sovereignty  of 
China.  Would  you  care  to  tell  me  if  you  think  my 
Japanese  friend  is  right?" 

"I  think,"  answered  Baron  Hayashi,  "that  he  is  right. 
I  do  not  pretend  to  know  the  foreign  policy  of  the  new 
Government.  The  Cabinet  has  not  as  yet  been  formed. 
But  my  opinion  is  that  the  policy  of  any  Government  of 
Japan  that  will  be  able  to  hold  office  must  be,  particularly 
as  regards  China,  on  fair  lines,  l^nless  it  was  what  vou 
would  probably  call  moderate,  I  think  the  Premier  would 


78  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

certainly  come  into  conflict  with  the  Diet.  Men  of  wider 
view  as  regards  foreign  poHtics  are  constantly  gaining  in 
numbers  and  weight  in  Japan." 

"What  about  the  Cheng  Chia  Tung  incident,  that  is 
causing  so  much  talk?"  I  asked.  "I  suppose  the  negotia- 
tions you  are  carrying  on  with  the  Chinese  Foreign  Office 
have  not  been  stopped  ?  ' ' 

"No,"  answered  the  Baron.  "We  are  to  have  another 
conference  this  afternoon.  The  Cheng  Chia  Tung  affair  was 
an  incident  of  only  local  importance,  and  will  be  treated 
as  such  so  far  as  Japan  is  concerned.  The  question  of  the 
policing  of  certain  points  in  Manchuria  is  under  discussion, 
of  course,  but  there  is  no  point  about  it  that  denotes  any 
radical  departure  from  what  has  been  going  on  for  some 
time,  and  I  do  not  anticipate  any  disagreement  about  it  or 
anything  else  in  connection  with  the  Cheng  Chia  Tung 
matter." 

"  What  will  be  the  outcome  of  the  whole  present  muddle 
in  China?"  I  queried.  "What  is  going  to  be  the  real 
solution  of  China's  troubles  ?  Or  w  ill  there  be  a  solution  ? 
Things  here  in  Peking  seem  to  be  in  almost  a  hopeless 
state." 

"First  of  all,"  was  the  reply,  "the  Powers  must  agree 
among  themselves  as  to  a  policy  toward  China.  They 
must  come  to  a  full  and  unanimous  agreement.  Not  only 
must  England,  France,  Russia  and  Japan  be  parties  to  it, 
but  America  as  well.  Even  should  the  United  States  de- 
cide that  it  wished  to  have  nothing  to  do  with  any  loan  that 
might  be  made  to  China,  we  should  have  its  full  agreement 
and  its  moral  support  of  the  policy  to  be  followed.  China 
needs,  beyond  all  else,  ten  or  fifteen  years  of  uninterrupted 
peace.  Given  tirrte,  China  would  show  wonderful  progress 
along  many,  many  lines.  The  Chinese  are  intelligent.  I 
see  any  amount  of  good,  intelligent  material  here  in  China. 
Many  of  them  are  keen,  too,  to  help.  But  unless  China 
has  peace,  nothing  can  be  effected. 

"Some  of  the  greatest  difficulties  in  which  China  finds 
herself  to-day  are  those  from  which  she  can  never  extricate 
herself.  I  doubt  very  much  if  China  will  ever  agree  to 
allow  the  Powers  to  give  her  the  help  she  must  have, 
sooner  or  later,  from  outside,  without  combined  and 
unanimous  pressure  from  the  Powers.    Therefore,  first  let 


I 


A    CONCRETE    SUGGESTION  79 

the  Powers  decide  among  themselves  that  a  committee  of 
some  sort,  drawn  from  them  or  delegated  by  them,  shall 
run  China's  finance,  both  as  regards  income  and  expen- 
diture, and  we  can  tlien  discuss  the  ways  and  means. 

"It  is  the  only  way.  China  is  merely  drifting  to-day 
from  bad  to  worse.  Give  her  money  and  what  becomes  of 
it  ?  Wasted,  every  time  she  gets  it !  It  will  always  be  so 
until  the  Powers  have  a  voice  in  China's  financial  matters. 
There  is  sure  to  be  the  greatest  opposition  to  any  such 
scheme  on  the  part  of  the  Chinese  themselves — I  know 
that.  But  if  the  Powers,  unanimously,  pointed  out  that 
the  step  was  not  only  for  China's  good,  but  the  only  sane 
path  to  a  solution  of  China's  difficulties,  the  thing  could 
be  done.  Under  such  a  scheme  China  would  advance  sur- 
prisingly in  ten  to  fifteen  years.  It  might  be  true  that 
China's  finances  might  have  to  be  run  for  her  by  outsiders 
for  twenty  years  before  she  could  be  trusted  to  take  them 
over  herself.  But  that  is  her  only  way  to  true  progress — 
the  only  way  she  will  eventually  come  into  her  own. 

"By  such  a  procedure,  and  by  no  other,  could  China 
see  the  day  when  the  Powers  would  hand  back  to  her  the 
areas  wherein  they  possess  special  rights.  The  day  would 
come,  too,  when  ex-territorial  rights  in  China  would  be  a 
thing  of  the  past." 

I  gasped. 

Such  talk  from  a  Japanese  ! 

What  would  Baron  Hayashi's  countrymen  have  to  say 
to  such  proposals  ?  But  that  evidently  did  not  worry 
Baron  Hayashi. 

"I  have  a  genuine  sympathy  for  China,"  he  went  on; 
"who  has  not  who  knows  China?  I  would  be  glad  to  do 
anything  in  my  power  to  really  help.  But,"  and  he 
shrugged  his  shoulders,  "the  Chinese  do  not  believe  me. 
When  I  make  a  common-sense  suggestion  they  do  the 
opposite  thing.  If  I  point  out  a  road,  with  every  good 
feeling  and  intention,  they  take  the  one  leading  in  the  other 
direction." 

I  could  understand  that.  China  mistrusts  Baron 
Hayashi  because  he  is  Japanese,  not  because  he  is  Baron 
Hayashi. 

"Above  all  " — the  Minister  spoke  with  great  earnestness 
— "the  Powers  should  co-operate  in  the  Far  East.     They 


8o  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

should  co-operate  in  China.  That  is  the  foundation.  It 
must  first  be  laid,  then  the  rest  will  come." 

After  a  half-hour  listening  to  Baron  Hayashi's  views 
on  the  growth  of  broader  view-points  in  his  own  country, 
and  the  general  improvement  in  tone  of  business  methods 
in  Japan,  we  touched  on  the  bitterness  that  the  previous 
year  or  two  had  seen  spring  up  between  Englishmen  and 
Japanese  in  the  East.  Baron  Hayashi  had  not  been  out 
from  Europe  sufficiently  long  to  appreciate  its  extent.  I 
found  that  out  at  once.  He  was  frank  in  saying  that  the 
anti-British  Press  campaign  that  was  conducted  the  year 
before  in  Japan  was  to  be  condemned  unconditionally. 
When  I  told  him  that  many  men  in  high  places  put  forth 
the  excuse  that  the  Japanese  Government  had  no  control 
over  the  Japanese  Press,  he  threw  back  his  head  with  an 
impatient  expression.  "No  control?"  he  said.  "That  is 
all  nonsense.  The  Government  should  have  control  of  the 
Press  of  a  country-  in  time  of  war,  if  at  no  other  time.  That 
Press  campaign  should  have  never  taken  place.  The 
Government  should  never  have  allowed  it." 

Baron  Hayashi  had  brought  back  ideas  from  Europe 
that  might  open  the  eyes  of  some  of  his  fellow-Japanese,  I 
thought. 

I  asked  Baron  Hayashi  if  he  thought  I  could  get,  w^hen 
I  returned  to  Tokyo,  the  text  of  the  agreements  between 
Japan  and  China  regarding  the  Hanyeping  mines  in  the 
Yangtze  Valley. 

"I  think  you  can  do  so,"  was  his  reply.  "I  know  that 
some  documents  of  that  sort  are  hard  to  get  hold  of  at 
times.  It  should  not  be.  I  remember,  years  ago  in  Peking, 
Chang  Chi  Tung  came  to  me  and  wanted  to  borrow  about 
30,000  dollars  in  connection  with  the  Han  Yang  plant, 
that  is  now  part  of  the  Hanyeping  Company.  I  managed 
to  find  the  desired  amount  for  him  in  Japan,  but  when 
I  communicated  the  matter  to  the  British  Legation  I  was 
shortly  favoured  by  a  call  from  Mr.  Brown,  the  British 
Consul-General  at  Hankow,  who  said  China  had  an  agree- 
ment with  England  to  the  effect  that  she  could  not  borrow 
from  anyone  else  with  that  sort  of  security  without  first 
approaching  England.  '  Very  well,'  I  said,  '  just  show 
me  the  agreement,  so  I  can  explain  my  action,  and  I  will 
see  that  the  matter  is  dropped.'     '  I  cannot  do  that,'  said 


A   CONCRETE    SUGGESTION  8i 

Brown,  '  it  is  a  secret  agreement  and  1  have  not  a  copy, 
or  at  least  have  no  permission  to  give  out  the  details.' 
Well,  I  simply  explained  to  him  that  I  could  not  act  unless 
he  showed  me  the  document  on  which  he  wished  me  to  base 
my  action.  I  suggested  I  should  get  it  from  Sir  John 
Jordan.  I  asked  Sir  John  for  it,  and  he  told  me  in  turn 
that  he  had  no  permission  to  show  it  to  anyone.  I  then 
suggested  to  Sir  John  that  he  should  telegraph  to  the 
British  Foreign  Office,  and  get  permission  to  show  it  to 
me.  He  readily  did  so,  and  after  a  lot  of  bother  and 
delay  finally  did  get  permission,  and  the  document  was 
shown  to  me.  It  contained  not  a  single  thing  that  might 
not  just  as  well  have  been  published  outright.  There  was 
not  a  shadow  of  an  excuse  for  all  the  niystery.  Yet  that 
is  the  way  things  used  to  be  done  in  China,  and  there  is  too 
much  of  that  sort  of  thing  still.  If  I  had  my  way,  I  would 
say  that  there  should  be  no  secret  agreements,  and  then 
there  would  be  much  less  argument  about  them." 

It  was  pretty  hard  to  take  issue  with  Baron  Hayashi 
when  he  talked  like  that. 

In  fact,  that  long  chat  with  Baron  Hayashi  was  replete 
with  surprises.  I  had  heard  so  much  on  the  other  side  of 
the  fence  that  to  have  good,  straight,  fair  words  on  such 
subjects  from  the  man  who  was  the  mouthpiece  of  Japan 
diplomatically  in  China  was  a  pleasant  relief. 

But  I  had  forgotten  all  about  The  Cynic.  I  had  for- 
gotten tiffin,  too,  and  the  orthodox  time  for  it  was  long 
past.  However,  I  hurried  my  rickshaw  man  back  to  the 
Wagon-Lit,  hoping  to  weather  the  storm  of  The  Cynic's 
wrath. 

He  had  waited  for  me. 

"Come  and  have  some  food,"  he  said.  "Come  and  tell 
me  all  the  nice  things  that  you  have  heard  about  how  Japan 
is  going  to  help  poor  old  China." 

"You  are  a  dyed-in-the-wool  Cynic,  my  friend,"  I 
replied.  "You  know  your  Japan.  I  admit  that.  But  you 
cannot  make  me  disbelieve  the  truth  of  all  I  have  been  told. 
However,  you  shall  have  a  full  report  of  what  I  have 
heard.  Then  you  can  try  to  make  me  as  cynical  and  as 
sceptical  as  you  are,  you  misanthrope." 

I  am  bound  to  say  he  did  so — that  is,  he  had  his  try. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

JAPANESE    MILITARISTS    AND    CHINESE    SOVEREIGNTY 

The  Cynic  and  I  finished  a  very  serviceable  tiffin  at  the 
Wagon-Lit  Hotel  and  retired  to  my  room  for  coffee. 

I  told  my  friend  all  that  Baron  Hayashi  had  told  me 
that  morning  of  his  ideas  as  to  how  China  could  best  be 
helped  by  the  Powers.  I  told  him,  further,  of  how  Baron 
Hayashi  had  trenchantly  criticised  the  foreign  policy  of 
Marquis  Okuma  toward  China,  and  the  action  of  Japan's 
Foreign  Minister,  Viscount  Kato,  with  reference  to  the 
Five  Group  Demands. 

The  Cynic  listened  until  I  had  gone  over  the  whole 
ground  in  detail.  When  I  had  finished,  he  nodded  his 
head.  "I  can  see  the  whole  thing,"  he  said.  "Quite  so, 
quite  so.     It  corroborates  what  I  have  suspected." 

"You  are  utterly  incapable  of  judging  anything 
Japanese  fairly,"  I  expostulated.     "Be  broad-minded." 

"I  am  not  unfair,"  The  Cynic  alleged.  "Listen  to 
what  I  have  to  say  and  draw  your  own  conclusions.  I  will 
tell  you  just  what  I  think,  frankly,  without  bias.  Then 
judge  for  yourself." 

I  listened  to  The  Cynic  with  close  attention,  for,  as  I 
have  told  you,  he  has  the  reputation  of  knowing  his  Japan 
as  well  as  any  Anglo-Saxon  alive. 

I  must  confess  I  did  not  agree  with  all  that  he  said, 
but  his  opinion  is  so  eminently  worthy  of  respect  that  I 
will  write  what  he  told  me,  just  as  he  said  it. 

"The  axiom  that  one  must  start  with,  if  one  is  to  get 
any  sort  of  grasp  of  present-day  Japanese  affairs,"  he 
began,  "is  that  there  is  a  power  in  Japan  that  directs 
Japan's  foreign  policy  that  is  not  in  sight  of  the  casual 
observer,  and  does  not  depend  upon  any  mandate  from 
the  electorate,  or  anything  of  that  kind.  To  begin  with, 
a  mandate  from  the  electorate  in  Japan  does  not  mean 
much,  anyway.    Less  than  four  per  cent,  of  the  population 

82 


JAPANESE    AND    CHINESE    SOVEREIGNTY  83 

have  the  franchise,  and  mighty  few  of  those  that  have  it 
use  it  inteUigently.  No  end  of  them  do  not  use  it  at  all. 
The  last  election  in  Japan  was  the  first  one  in  which  any 
sign  whatever  of  popular  interest  was  shown. 

"The  Military  Party  dictates  the  foreign  policy  of 
Japan.  Do  not  forget  that.  There  is  no  question  about 
it.  All  men  of  all  parties  admit  it,  if  they  are  the  sort  of 
men  who  are  in  touch  with  what  really  goes  on  politically 
in  Japan." 

I  was  prepared  to  accept  The  Cynic's  views  on  that 
head.  In  one  of  the  leading  articles  written  in  1916  by 
Mr.  Ishikawa,  the  editor  of  the  jiji  Shimbun  of  Tokyo 
(the  leaders  of  no  paper  in  Japan  are  entitled  to  greater 
respect),  he  said,  "Japan's  policy  toward  China  has  hitherto 
been  greatly  influenced  by  the  Military  Party,  as  will  be 
evident  from  what  has  taken  place  in  Manchuria  and 
Shantung  since  last  year." 

A  more  striking  corroboration  of  The  Cynic's  view  came 
a  bit  later  in  the  form  of  a  speech  by  Marquis  Okuma,  at  a 
meeting  held  at  his  residence  at  Waseda  for  the  formal 
dissolution  of  the  Okuma  Supporters'  Association.  Am.ong 
the  remarks  made  by  the  aged  statesman  in  what  was  a  sort 
of  valedictory  address  to  the  men  who  had  been  his  adher- 
ents were  one  or  two  remarkable  expressions.  When  it 
is  considered  that  Marquis  Okuma  may  rightly  be  called 
one  of  the  two  originators  of  political  parties  in  Japan,  in 
the  modern  sense  of  the  word,  and  for  nearly  forty  years 
he  has  been  one  of  the  most  prominent  figures  in  Japanese 
politics,  his  statements  are  certainly  worthy  of  careful 
analysis. 

"Since  the  Russo-Japanese  war,"  said  Marquis  Okuma, 
"elated  by  her  military  success,  Japan  has  been  placed  in 
an  isolated  position  as  regards  her  foreign  relations,  while 
internally  the  progress  of  constitutional  government  hag 
been  brought  to  a  halt.  Thus  the  rights  that  arc  endowed 
on  the  people  by  the  Constitution  have  been  usurped  by 
the  bureaucrats,  yet  the  people  generally  seem  to  make  no 
serious  efforts  to  recover  their  lost  rights. 

"It  is  forty  years  since  the  movement  for  constitutional 
government  was  started  in  Japan,  and  the  net  result  of  the 
labour  of  those  years  has  been  retrogression  instead  of  pro- 
gress.    The  administration  of  Japan  is  practicallv  in  the 


84  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

hands  of  a  few  superannuated  old  men.  Japan  used  to  be 
a  country  more  democratic  than  the  United  States,  and  it 
is  a  pity  that  this  principle  should  be  neutralised  by  the 
appearance  among-  the  ruling  class  of  an  admixture  of 
German  and  Chinese  ideas." 

"When  you  understand  that  the  Military  Party  dictates 
the  foreign  policy  of  Japan,"  continued  The  Cynic,  "you 
can  better  find  a  sound  explanation  of  both  the  action  of 
Okuma  and  Kato.  Okuma  had  no  foreign  policy. 
Hayashi  was  right.  Okuma  was  never  allowed  to  have 
one  by  the  Military  Party.  He  was  given  a  fairly  free 
hand  so  far  as  domestic  affairs  were  concerned,  but  had  to 
do  as  he  was  told  wdth  regard  to  China,  for  instance.  The 
Military  Party  in  Japan  is  not  composed  of  men  who  have 
much  understanding  of  foreign  affairs  themselves.  Their 
ideas  on  such  subjects  are  singularly  insular  and  behind 
the  times.  So  naturally  their  foreign  policy  lacks  consist- 
ency and  cohesion.     Hayashi  was  right  again. 

"Kato  is  a  man  of  high  personal  honour.  I  admit 
that.  Kato  knows  right  from  wrong  too.  Do  you  think 
for  a  minute  that  Viscount  Kato  originated  in  his  ow^n  mind 
the  idea  of  sending  four  groups  of  the  Five  Group  Demands 
to  the  British  Foreign  Office  in  London  and  keeping  the 
fifth  group  back  ?  Do  you  think  he  did  a  thing  that  was 
dishonest  on  the  face  of  it?  You  do.  Well,  do  you 
think  he  did  it  willingly,  or  of  his  own  initiative  and  voli- 
tion ?     If  you  do,  you  are  wrong. 

"Viscount  Kato  was  told  to  do  that  by  the  Military 
Party.  He  protested  that  it  was  a  wrong  and  a  foolish 
thing  to  do.  The  Military  Party  repeated  that  it  was  to  be 
done,  and  the  result  was  that  he  did  it.  Why  did  he  not 
resign  ?  My  boy,  that  question  shows  that  you  do  not 
know  the  Japanese.  The  way  to  get  any  Japanese  of  high 
personal  ideals  to  do  a  thing  that  goes  against  the  grain 
with  him  is  to  make  him  believe  that  his  duty  to  his  country 
demands  that  he  do  it.  No  Japanese  w^ould  resign  in 
protest  under  such  circumstances  if  he  was  handled  pro- 
perly, and  Kato  was  handled  quite  artistically. 

"Now  I  am  going  to  say  something  you  may  not  like 
about  Baron  Hayashi,  for  whom  you  have  so  much  admira- 
tion. I  do  not  believe  his  statement  that  the  Genro  were 
fooled  by  Viscount  Kato.     Perhaps  he  thinks  so.     But  I 


JAPANESE    AND    CHINESE    SOVEREIGNTY  85 

can  see  in  what  Baron  Hayashi  said  to  you,  not  only  about 
Okuma  but  about  Kato  as  well,  something  that  is  all 
part  of  a  very  Japanese  plan  indeed.  Let  rrie  unfold 
it  to  you. 

"The  Military  Party  was  solely  responsible  for  the 
foreign  policy  of  Japan  toward  China.  What  easier  than 
to  put  the  blame  for  what  now  can  be  seen  to  be  gross 
mistakes  on  the  shoulders  of  the  old  ex-Premier?  The 
Military  Party  was  the  very  heart  and  soul  of  the  Five 
Group  Demands.  Forcing  those  demands  on  China  has 
hurt  Japan  in  the  eyes  of  the  world.  What  easier  than  to 
lay  the  fault  at  the  door  of  Viscount  Katb  ?  The  Military 
Party  call  him  more  English  than  the  English  for  the 
reason  that  he  is  universally  known  to  be  pro-British  as 
regards  the  present  great  war,  and  that  he  is  openly  in 
favour  of  Japan  living  right  up  to  her  treaty  obligations 
with  England.  What  easier  than  to  discredit  him? 
Okuma  tried  to  get  them  to  appoint  Kato  Premier.  Not  a 
bit.  They  chose  a  military  man,  Count  Terauchi.  I  have 
seen  evidences  of  this  gradual  but  persistent  effort  to  dis- 
credit Kato  coming  for  some  time.  Hioki  was  made  a 
scapegoat,  but  Hioki  was  small  fry.  The  Military  Party 
was  after  Kato's  scalp. 

"Why  is  Baron  Hayashi  so  frank  in  criticism  of  the 
man  of  whom  he  spoke  to  you  as  his  old  chief?  Do  you 
realise  that  Hayashi  was  accusing  Kato  of  a  dishonourable 
action  ?  Is  he  likely  to  disparage  Kato  to  you,  an  Ameri- 
can and  a  man  of  the  Western  world,  without  a  reason 
for  so  doing?  He  knew  you  would  spread  that  story. 
The  Military  Party  in  Japan  w'ould  like  it  spread,  and 
Baron  Hayashi,  like  every  other  Japanese  who  has  to  do 
with  public  affairs,  has  to  follow  out  the  plans  of  the 
autocrats  behind  the  throne. 

"Count  Terauchi  will  have  to  do  so.  He  did  not  wish 
to  be  Premier.  He  was  happy  in  his  position  as  Governor 
of  Korea.  It  took  pressure  to  make  him  take  the  premier- 
ship. The  Military  Party  supplied  that  pressure.  One 
thing  is  true,  though.  If  Count  Terauchi  expresses  an 
opinion  to  the  Military  Party  it  will  have  much  more 
weight  with  them  than  Okuma's  opinion  ever  had. 
Terauchi  is  the  party's  own  man  and  it  will  listen  to  him, 
perhaps.     I  think  Count  Terauchi  may  prove  to  be  more 


86  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

conservative  than  some  folks  think.     I  mean  conservative 
in  the  best  sense.     Time  alone  can  tell. 

"As  to  the  Press  of  Japan,  one  thing  I  want  you  to 
accept  as  an  axiom  about  Japan.  The  Press  campaigns 
are  never  launched  without  the  consent  of  the  Govern- 
ment, which  means  the  Military  Party.  That  anti-British 
campaign  was  all  planned  in  high  quarters.  How  ridicu- 
lous to  allege  that  the  Government  could  not  control  the 
Press.  Who  said  that  ?  A  member  of  the  Okuma 
Cabinet  ?  Rot !  And  he  knew  it  was  rot,  too.  Look  how 
the  papers  in  Japan  were  called  off  the  Cheng  Chia  Tung 
incident.  All  newspaper  offices  are  subject  to  control  by 
the  Government  in  Japan.  Orders  come  to  the  papers 
continuously.  A  former  Emperor's  tomb  is  desecrated. 
Not  a  line  is  to  be  printed  about  it.  That  sort  of  thing  is 
typical. 

"The  Press  is  used  in  Japan,  too,  by  the  Military 
Party.  When  the  Allies  had  fixed  matters  for  China  to 
join  them  against  Germany,  and  Japan  was  told  the  deal 
was  all  ready,  and  her  formal  consent  was  asked,  Japan 
said  she  had  no  doubt  she  could  concur,  but  first  she  m'ust 
consult  with  her  diplomatic  representatives  abroad.  The 
whole  thing  was  secret,  of  course.  What  happened  ?  The 
Japanese  Ambassador  in  Washington  gave  the  whole  show 
away.  Oh,  said  Japan,  so  sorry  !  If  we  had  thought  there 
was  any  possibility  of  our  Washington  man  givmg  pub- 
licity to  that  matter  we  would  have  warned  him  not  to  do 
so.  How  unfortunate  !  The  Press  in  Japan  was  advised  to 
damn  the  plan  to  get  China  in,  and  the  howl  that  went  to 
heaven  you  know  about  as  well  as  I  do. 

"Baron  Hayashi  may  be  the  most  honest  man  in  the 
world.  He  cannot  change  the  character  of  the  group  of 
men  who  rule  Japan.  More,  the  men  who  rule  Japan  do 
not  care  how  Utopian  are  the  ideas  held  by  Baron  Hayashi 
about  Japan's  dealings  with  China,  so  long  as  he  does 
their  bidding  when  the  time  comes.  And  in  my  opinion 
he  will  do  it.  He  is  a  Japanese,  and  looks  at  that  sort 
of  thing  from  a  standpoint  that  is  altogether  different  from 
ours.  What  Japan's  policy  toward  China  will  be  in  the 
near  future  I  do  not  pretend  to  know.  It  may  be  harsh. 
If  not,  that  fact  will  owe  much  to  a  realisation  on  the  part 
of   the   Military   Party    in   Japnn    that    it  cannot  do  as   it 


JAPANESE    AND    CHINESE    SOVEREIGNTY  87 

pleases  in  the  Far  East  with  impunity.  It  may  come  to 
that  conclusion,  but  there  are  plenty  of  evidences  that  it 
has  not  reached  that  point,  or  come  near  it,  as  yet. 

"As  to  the  sovereignty  of  China,  her  sovereignty  over 
Manchuria  is  so  much  of  it  gone  that  what  China  retains 
does  not  amount  to  much.  The  other  Powers  in  the  world, 
the  Powers  of  the  West,  by  their  attitude  on  Far  Eastern 
questions,  will  have  much  to  do  with  the  retention  or  loss 
of  China's  sovereignty.  More  responsibility  on  that  head 
lies  \yith  them  than  some  of  them  seem  to  realise." 

So  that  was  The  Cynic's  way  of  looking  at  it. 

He  certainly  knew  a  great  deal  about  Japan.  There 
was  no  gainsaying  that. 

On  the  other  hand,  he  might  have  been  wrong  on  some 
points.     Few  of  us  are  invariably  right. 


CHAPTER    XIX 

A   CHINESE    OPINION    ON    CHINESE    POLITICS 

"If  you  will  come  to  the  outer  gates  of  President  Li's 
official  residence  at  1.30  p.m.,"  said  Wu  Chao  Chu  of  the 
Chinese  Foreign  Office,  "I  will  arrange  to  meet  you  just 
inside,  and  will  act  as  interpreter  for  you  during  your 
talk  with  the  President." 

It  was  an  October  morning  in  Peking,  and  October 
mornings  in  Peking  are  glorious.  There  is  just  that  tang 
in  the  air  that  gives  a  zest  to  life.  Peking  has  few  rivals 
for  the  proud  title  of  the  most  picturesque  city  in  the 
world.  I  was  to  see  the  man  who  was  nominally,  at  least, 
in  the  seat  of  Government  of  the  Republic  of  China. 

I  set  out  from  the  Wagon-Lit  Hotel  in  plenty  of  time. 
My  last  recollection  of  Peking  was  different  indeed  from 
the  scenes  that  surrounded  one  in  the  Chinese  capital  in 
1916.  My  last  visit  to  Peking  was  sixteen  years  before. 
I  came  up  from  Tientsin  with  the  Relief  Expedition  at  the 
time  of  the  Boxer  troubles. 

Perhaps  I  appreciated  the  Wagon-Lit  all  the  more  for 
the  fact  that  my  first  night  in  Peking  in  1900  was  spent  in 
the  rain  and  wet  under  such  poor  shelter  as  was  afforded 
by  a  rude  shed  at  the  edge  of  the  tennis  lawn  that  faced  the 
British  Legation  proper.  We  had  just  "relieved  "  the 
Legations  that  day,  and  were  mightily  relieved  ourselves 
to  be  in  touch  with  food  again,  some  of  us.  Congestion  in 
the  Legation  compound  enforced  an  open  bivouac  for  the 
first  night. 

My  speedy  rickshaw  coolie— the  Peking  rickshaw 
coolies  are  the  best  and  speediest  in  the  Far  East — tooled 
along  merrily  past  that  same  British  Legation  and  then 
along  one  of  Peking's  new  road-beds,  a  vast  improvement 
over  the  awful  highways  of  earlier  days,  until  he  crossed  the 
broad  stone  court  that  marked  the  threshold  of  the  famous 
Forbidden  City  itself.     Down  the  stone-flagged  space  to 

88 


CHINESE    POLITICS  89 

ihe  left  a  gate  tower  hid  the  lower  storey  of  the  big  Chien 
Men,  or  main  outer  gate  of  Peking  to  the  westward,  re- 
splendent in  all  the  glory  of  its  new  fantastic,  barbaric 
colouring.  From  that  Chien  Men,  on  August  15,  1900,  the 
American  troops  fought  a  hard  little  fight  straight  up  the 
flags  that  led  to  the  Purple  City  of  the  Emperor,  losing 
many  a  good  man  to  gain  a  position  where  my  rickshaw 
flew  past  in  19 16  without  a  pause  to  allow  a  moment's 
reflection. 

Reaching  the  gateway  of  the  outer  lodge  of  the  official 
residence  of  the  President  of  China,  I  discovered  that  his 
abode  was  in  a  part  of  that  once  Forbidden  City,  a  part 
that  once  had  served  as  the  residence  of  the  Emperor 
himself. 

Inside  the  gate  a  good-sized  lake  stretched  away  in 
front.  At  a  glance  I  recognised  the  place.  General 
Linievietch,  the  Russian  Commander-in-Chief  in  China  in 
1900,  had  asked  General  Stoessel,  who  was  in  command  of 
the  Russian  troops  in  that  quarter,  to  show  me  over  that 
very  self-same  part  of  the  Imperial  City.  My  tour  of 
observation  had  taken  place  before  the  Allied  triumphal 
entry  into  the  Forbidden  City  proper,  and  had  been  a 
unique  opportunity.  It  certainly  seemed  strange  to  be 
rolling  along  that  lakeside  path  in  a  rickshaw,  bound  for  an 
interview  with  a  Republican  President  of  China.  Who 
would  have  prophesied  it  that  day  sixteen  years  before  ? 

Over  the  brown  stalks  of  innumerable  lily-plants  that 
floated  on  the  surface  of  the  lake  gaily  coloured  barges 
barely  moved.  Beyond  them  was  what  seemed  to  be  an 
island,  set  in  the  centre  of  the  lake,  but  in  reality  a  sort  of 
peninsula,  its  landward  connection  on  the  far  side.  A 
fairy  island  this,  that  a  clever  scene-painter  might  have 
designed  to  embellish  his  masterpiece.  Its  green  trees 
sprang  from  the  lake  shore  and  sufficiently  clothed  its 
higher  banks  and  its  hill-like  centre  so  that  one  could  only 
catch  rare  glimpses  of  the  many-coloured  buildings  that 
covered  it. 

Through  this  green  mantle  here  and  there  peaked  roofs 
of  rich  yellow  and  pure  turquoise,  trimmed  with  blue,  green 
and  purple  tiles.  One  could  see  but  tiny  bits  of  the  colour- 
ing through  the  ihick  foliage,  which  produced  an  effect  of 
singular  beauty. 


90  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

Past  paved  courts  and  through  them  I  went,  low  one- 
storey  houses,  with  doors  wide  open,  flanking  them.  In 
one  house  I  was  turned  over  to  a  Chinese,  who  drew  aside 
the  heavily  padded  blue  silk  curtain  of  a  room  and  invited 
me  mutely  to  enter.  The  partitions  and  ceiling  of  dark 
brown  wood  were  covered  with  wonderful  carving. 

As  I  waited  I  thought  of  the  great  change  that  came 
over  China  when  that  gay-coloured  island-like  home  I  had 
just  passed,  once  the  favourite  residence  of  the  Manchu 
Emperor,  had  come  to  be  the  home  of  a  head  of  a  sort  of 
representative  government,  or  at  least  the  beginning  of 
one.  It  gave  one  food  for  thought,  especially  when  sur- 
rounded by  all  the  reminders  of  the  supplanted  regime. 
The  grandeur,  the  decorative  stamp  put  upon  every  build- 
ing, the  record  of  pomp,  circumstance,  and  luxurious 
wealth  that  abounded,  all  bore  the  hall-mark  of  that  fallen 
faction,  the  Manchu  rulers  of  China.  In  the  midst  of  it  sat 
the  Republican  successors  of  the  broken  house.  What 
stamp  would  they  leave  on  the  land?  No  monuments  of 
luxury,  that  may  be  sure.  They  are  not  sufificiently  sound 
financiers  to  do  that,  if  they  would.  They  have  trouble 
enough  raising  money  for  themselves. 

Dr.  Wu  Chao  Chu  joined  me.  We  chatted  while 
waiting  for  the  Presidential  summons.  Dr.  Wu  is  a 
Doctor  of  Laws,  and  is,  if  my  recollection  is  correct,  a 
barrister  admitted  to  practise  at  the  English  Bar. 

Dr.  Wu  is  one  of  the  brightest  men  I  met  in  China. 
He  is  distinctly  in  contrast  to  the  type  of  young  Chinese 
who  goes  abroad,  generally  to  Japan,  for  a  few  years  and 
comes  back  to  China  with  a  bare  smattering  of  learning. 
That  type  is  one  of  China's  greatest  menaces  to-day. 

I  had  been  discussing  the  probable  course  of  events  in 
China  with  many  well-known  men  during  the  preceding 
days  in  Peking,  and  more  than  once  there  had  cropped  up 
the  conviction  on  the  part  of  some  one  of  them,  whether 
friendly  to  China  or  apathetical  as  to  her  fate,  that  the 
Powers  would  sooner  or  later  have  to  administer  the  finan- 
cial affairs  of  the  great,  incapable  country. 

Tiie  most  cogent  proposal  I  had  heard  had  been  sug- 
gested to  me  by  Baron  Hayashi.  That,  you  will  remem- 
ber, embraced  first  an  agreement  between  England,  France, 
Russia,  Japan  and  America  as  to  what  line  should  be  taken. 


CHINESE    POLITIGS  9^ 

then  the  reformation  of  Chinese  Governmental  financial 
affairs  under  the  guidance  of  the  Powers,  directed  at  first 
hand  by  an  International  Committee. 

With  China  at  present  "borrowing  at  ii  per  cent,  to 
repay  loans  made  at  5  per  cent.,"  as  Sir  John  Jordan 
put  it  to  me,  but  few  of  the  thinking  men  in  Peking, 
whatever  their  nationality,  could  see  where  the  Central 
Government,  left  to  itself  as  regards  finance,  would  do 
otherwise  than  drift  from  bad  to  worse. 

Anxious  to  get  an  intelligent  and  broad-minded  opinion 
on  this  subject  from  the  Chinese  point  of  view,  I  took  the 
opportunity  of  asking  Dr.  Wu  his  views. 

"The  proposal  as  to  a  group  of  the  Powers  dealing  with 
the  question  of  China's  finances  by  means  of  an  Inter- 
national Committee  sounds  all  right  in  theory,"  said  Dr. 
Wu.  "Do  not  forget,  however,  that  such  a  proposal  would 
result  in  Japan  ruling  the  committee.  The  European 
Powers  are  not  in  a  position  to  lend  China  money. 
America  apparently  does  not  care  to  do  so.  Japan  can  do 
so  and  is  willing  to  do  it.  An  International  Committee 
dealing  with  a  loan  in  which  Japan  had  the  greatest  actual 
monetary  interest  would  very  likely  have  a  Japanese  chair- 
man. In  any  case  Japan  would  undoubtedly  have  the 
greater  voice  in  its  counsels. 

"The  result  would  be  that  China  would  become  another 
Egypt.  England  and  France  went  to  Egypt  together,  if 
you  remember.  Trouble  came  and  found  France  unwilling 
to  send  troops  to  cope  with  it.  England  had  to  send  the 
troops  and  do  the  work  that  had  to  be  done  on  the  spot. 
England  alone  sent  the  soldiers.  England  alone  is  in 
.  Egypt  to-day.  More,  an  Egypt  under  the  English  and  an 
Egypt  under  the  Japanese  would  be  a  very  different  matter 
indeed. 

"Could  not  the  same  thing  happen  in  China?  Start 
the  matter  with  the  suggested  International  Committee. 
Suppose  some  trouble  took  place  between  Japanese  and 
Chinese  in  China.  Imagine  even,  for  the  sake  of  argu- 
ment, that  Japan  wished  to  force  that  trouble.  An  agent 
provocateur  could  easily  be  employed.  It  would  be  a 
simple  matter.  If  trouble  started,  whatever  the  cause, 
would  Europe  send  troops  to  China?  Would  America? 
If  the  Powers  thought  it  wise  Japan  would  never  let  that 


92  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

come  to  pass.  No,  Japan,  only  a  few  hours  distant,  would 
send  the  troops.  Can  you  not  see  how  easily  China  could 
become  an  Egypt?  Five  Group  control  of  China  means 
Japanese  control  of  China. 

"Yes,  it  means  Japanese  control  of  China,  and  that 
means  in  turn  China's  sovereignty  gone.  That  policy  is 
just  feeding  Japan's  ambitions.  Do  any  of  you  want 
that?     It  is  what  you  would  get. 

"Why  not  let  China  organise  her  revenue  under  the 
assistance  of  foreign  helpers  ?  She  has  done  that  with  the 
salt  gabelle.  Help  her  do  her  own  organisation  as  to 
revenue  and  try  her  as  to  her  expenditure.  If  China  proves 
that  she  is  absolutely  incapable  of  supervising  her  own 
expenditure,  then  give  her  some  foreign  help  and  super- 
vision to  do  it  herself,  always  herself,  but  with  foreign 
advice. 

"  Do  not  forget  that  an  Allied  loan  just  now  means  a 
Japanese  loan  unless  America  comes  in.  Do  not  lay  all 
America's  apathy  to  the  Wilson  Administration.  Remem- 
ber what  happened  under  Knox,  who  was  Secretary  of 
State  under  Taft.  Knox  proposed  that  the  Manchurian 
railways  should  be  international  in  character.  Japan 
showed  a  very  stern  front.  Knox  dropped  the  proposal  at 
once.  An  agreement  between  China  and  an  American 
group  was  all  but  signed  whereby  Americans  were  to 
construct  a  railway  on  the  western  borders  of  Manchuria. 
The  pen  was  practically  dipped  in  the  ink  in  Peking  to 
sign  that  agreement.  What  happened  ?  Japan  heard  of 
it  and  protested.  What  did  Knox  do?  Dropped  it  quick. 
If  you  think  any  help  might  be  expected  for  China  from 
America  I  disagree  with  you. 

"Japan  has  her  tentacles  out  to-day,  not  only  in  Man- 
churia but  in  Shantung  and  Fukien  Province  as  well. 
Give  her  financial  control  of  China  through  your  Five 
Group  International  proposition  and  you  fasten  those 
tentacles  all  the  tighter.  You  are  playing  Japan's  game 
when  you  give  her  any  such  opportunity  as  you  suggest." 

Just  then  the  call  came,  and  we  went  in  to  see 
President  Li. 


CHAPTER    XX 

THE    PRESIDENT    OF    CHINA 

Dr.  Wu  and  I  walked  through  a  succession  of  long 
galleries,  round  countless  corners,  through  all  manner  of 
courts,  past  many  scenes  unusual  to  Western  eyes.  One 
court,  instead  of  being  paved  like  its  fellows,  had  been 
transformed  into  a  miniature  lake.  Windows  of  strange 
design,  some  showing  rare  workmanship  and  unusual 
architectural  beauty,  lined  our  way.  Sentries  were  legion 
and  could  be  met  at  every  turning. 

From  one  court  a  long  path,  couples  of  sentries  facing 
each  other  across  it  at  intervals  of  every  ten  feet,  ended  in 
a  flight  of  stone  steps  on  which  wailed  a  Chinese  officer 
of  high  rank.  The  steps  led  to  a  house  whose  exterior 
showed  a  more  modern  design  than  any  we  had  previously 
seen  in  the  palace  grounds.  We  were  escorted  along  a 
corridor,  through  a  large  reception  room,  and  there  at  its 
other  end,  stood  General  Li  Yuan  Hung,  the  President  of 
the  Republic  of  China. 

Li  Yuan  Hung  had  been  described  to  me  more  than 
once  as  a  soldier  pure  and  simple.  In  fact^  he  was  very 
fond  of  so  describing  himself.  L^pon  one  characteristic  of 
General  Li  all  men  of  all  parties  agreed.  No  one  in  China 
would  lift  a  voice  against  the  opinion  that  Li  was  straight- 
forward and  honest.  He  was  a  plain,  blunt,  honest  and 
not  particularly  astute  or  clever  soldier,  that  was  all.  He 
had  no  great  strength  in  China,  and  never  took  a  stand 
which  antagonised  any  person  or  any  partv  if  he  could 
possibly  avoid  it,  and  one  generally  can  avoid  it  in  some 
way  in  China  if  one  is  sufficiently  keen  on  doing  so  at  no 
matter  what  cost. 

Li  was  sufficiently  stout  to  be  called  fat.  He  was  in 
uniform  when  I  met  him,  a  grey  uniform,  unpretentious, 
with  no  sign  of  rank  except  the  usual  three  stars  on  the 
shoulder  straps.  I  have  seen  three  stars  on  the  shoulder 
straps  of  so  many  soldiers  of  all  ranks  in  China,  stars  big 

93 


94  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

and  little,  stars  gold  and  silver,  stars  of  many  points  and 
stars  of  few,  that  I  have  no  more  idea  what  three  stars  on 
the  shoulder  really  mean  than  the  man  in  the  moon. 
Perhaps  it  means  nothing. 

President  Li  had  a  heavy  type  of  face.  His  close- 
cropped  black  hair,  hardly  touched  with  grey,  accentuated 
the  heaviness  of  his  face,  as  did  his  heavy  lips.  He  wore 
a  rather  long  black  moustache.  His  manner  of  speaking, 
his  tone  and  the  way  he  held  his  head  all  proclaimed  the 
old  soldier.  He  looked  straight  at  one  when  he  talked,  and 
cut  off  his  words  abruptly. 

A  dispatch  had  been  shown  to  me  that  morning  by 
Dr.  Reinsch,  the  American  Minister,  which  said  that  fight- 
ing had  taken  place  the  day  before  in  Kwangtung  Province, 
in  the  south,  between  two  bands  of  revolutionaries.  It  was 
calmly  reported  that  no  fewer  than  20,000  of  the  com- 
batants had  been  killed.  This  was  given  out  so  definitely 
that  I  thought  some  real  fighting  had  possibly  been  done 
and  a  few  people  killed.  I  asked  Li  what  he  had  heard 
from  the  south  about  the  affair. 

From  his  answer  I  judged  he  had  heard  nothing.  He 
merely  remarked  that  no  fighting  of  consequence  could  take 
place  in  the  south,  as  all  the  leaders  were  in  agreement. 
That  I  knew,  for  I  had  been  in  Kwangtung  not  many 
months  before,  and  had  an  opportunity  of  seeing  how 
General  Li  settled  matters  when  trouble  had  occurred.  He 
settled  matters  in  Kwangtung  by  giving  all  the  contestants 
what  they  severally  wanted,  and  paying  them  well  to  boot. 

The  discussion  of  China's  financial  difficulties  Li  dis- 
missed with  a  wave  of  his  hand.  The  Salt  Gabelle,  he 
said,  was  doing  very  well.  It  would  produce  quite  enough 
revenue  to  secure  the  required  loan  for  which  China  was 
negotiating. 

"Sir  Richard  Dane  has  done  so  well  with  the  Salt 
Gabelle,"  I  suggested,  "that  some  Chinese  argue  that  it 
might  be  wise  to  find  another  Sir  Richard  Dane  and  put 
him  to  work  on  China's  Land  Tax  problem.  Is  foreign 
assistance  likely  to  be  employed  in  connection  with  the 
Land  Tax  ?  " 

No  need  to  have  Li's  answer  to  that  question  in- 
terpreted. I  knew  what  it  was  before  Dr.  Wu  told  me. 
President  Li  was  root  and  branch  against  any  foreigner 


THE    PRESIDENT    OF    CHINA  95 

having-  the  least  thing  to  do  with  the  Land  Tax.  Never, 
never,  never  !  No  one  but  China  should  ever  touch  it. 
Chinese  reform  of  the  Land  Tax,  perhaps,  said  the  Pre- 
sident, but  in  the  Chinese  way.  Surveys  were  being  com- 
menced, but  many  years  would  elapse  before  great  head- 
way could  be  made,  as  it  was  a  gigantic  undertaking. 

I  with  difficulty  repressed  a  smile.  China,  with 
Nepotism  and  Squeeze  standing  guard,  reforming  her  in- 
ternal system  by  herself,  with  no  outside  assistance  what- 
soever, comes  perilously  near  to  being  a  joke. 

"Likin  and  internal  Customs  are  the  first  reforms  to 
which  we  intend  to  give  our  attention,"  continued  Presi- 
dent Li.  "I  am  not  in  favour  of  outside  assistance  there 
either." 

He  said  it  in  a  "That  settles  it"  sort  of  way  that  showed 
the  Chinese  of  the  old  school.  No  modern  ideas  ever 
threatened  the  peace  of  mind  of  Li  Yuan  Hung.  No  ray 
of  comprehension  as  to  Western  ways  of  doing  things 
or  Western  points  of  view  ever  found  its  way  into  the  dark 
recesses  of  his  age-old  mind.  He  was  just  hopelessly  and 
inevitably  "Old  China,"  and  that  was  all  there  was  to  it. 
I  went  over  the  ground  again  a  little  more  carefully,  giving 
the  President  some  of  the  arguments  of  the  more  up-to- 
date  thinkers  among  the  Chinese  of  both  north  and  south, 
but  it  was  always  the  same.  Li's  idea  was  to  go  on  in  the 
Chinese  way.  He  said  quite  bluntly  that  no  matter  from 
what  quarter  the  suggestion  to  enlist  a  foreigner  to  assist 
in  the  more  important  work  of  financial  reform  might 
originate,  he  would  not  allow  it. 

As  he  appeared  to  be  set  against  foreign  help  as  to 
Chinese  taxation,  while  so  equally  ready  to  forget  that  but 
for  foreign  reorganisation  and  co-operation  of  the  salt 
gabelle  China  would  have  been  indeed  in  sad  case,  I 
thought  I  would  like  to  hear  his  opinions  on  the  subject 
of  employing  General  Aoki  as  general  adviser  of  the 
Chinese  Army. 

No  sooner  had  I  asked  what  he  thought  about  such  a 
procedure  than  President  Li  explained  at  some  length  that 
a  very  false  report  had  been  spread  as  to  the  Government's 
intentions  in  that  matter.  I  assured  Li  that  I  was  not  in 
the  least  under  a  misapprehension  as  to  that,  for  the  reason 
that    I    had    read   carefully   his   own   explanation    to   the 


96  THE    FAR   EAST  UNVEILED 

House  of  Representatives.  But  Li  was  not  to  be  drawn 
on  the  Aoki  subject.  He  would  have  none  of  it.  He 
shelved  the  question  definitely  by  saying  that  the  whole 
proposal  had  originated  with  the  Cabinet,  who  still  had 
the  matter  in  their  hands.  It  was  theirs  originally  and 
theirs  still.    He  had  nothing  to  do  with  it. 

Other  things  we  discussed  briefly.  The  personal  and 
the  leading  characteristics  of  some  of  China's  military  men 
he  spoke  about  frankly  enough. 

The  Manchurian  situation  showed  no  change,  he  said. 

I  must  confess  I  was  anything  but  impressed  by  the 
President  of  the  Chinese  Republic.  I  was  far  more  in- 
terested in  the  short  conversation  that  I  had  had  while 
waiting  with  Dr.  Wu. 

After  all,  President  Li  Yuan  Hung  and  Dr.  Wu  Chao 
Chu  represented  two  types  as  well  as  any  two  men  in 
China  could  represent  them.  Li  stood  for  the  old  regime. 
Wu  would  stand  for  a  new  one  if  there  had  been  such  a 
thing  in  China.     But  there  was  not. 

China's  curse  was  a  plethora  of  the  too  new  and  too 
radical  in  her  young  blood.  A  man  with  balance  like  Dr. 
Wu  could  no  more  work  hand  in  hand  with  that  element 
than  he  could  with  the  old  Manchu  monarchy,  perhaps  not 
so  well. 

But  one  thing  was  demonstrated  to  me  beyond  all 
question  of  doubt.  Whatever  China's  danger  from  the 
half-fledged,  half-educated,  half-foreign  element  that 
seemed  to  have  such  a  hold  on  her  political  system  that 
they  blocked  reform  with  destructive  rather  than  construc- 
tive propaganda,  there  was  not  the  slightest  danger  that 
Li  Yuan  Hung,  President  of  the  Chinese  Republic,  would 
ever  turn  extreme  Radical  wilh  them.  He  would  be  the 
same  old  simple  soul  to  the  end.  Honest,  fearless  old 
soldier,  steeped  in  Chinese  ways,  he  was  probably  the  only 
man  who  could  sit  in  the  seat  of  the  Presidency  in  China 
in  1916  with  so  little  chance  of  objection  from  the  contend- 
ing factions. 

Let  us  hope  that  here  and  there  mav  be  found  a  Chinese 
who  will,  in  spite  of  all,  remain  honest  and  fearless  to  the 
end.  A  way  may  open  for  China  after  all.  Who  knows? 
The  Western  world  might  even  get  to  care  again,  some 
day,  what  happens  in  the  Far  East. 


CHAPTER    XXI 

I     GO     TO     MANCHURIA 

I  WAS  the  guest  of  the  South  Manchurian  Railway,  so  far 
as  seeing  Dairen  was  concerned.  That  is,  when  I  pre- 
sented certain  letters  of  introduction  from  Tokyo  to  the 
heads  of  the  railway  company  they  at  once  took  it  upon 
themselves  most  kindly  to  show  me  something  of  what- 
ever I  wished  to  see  in  the  vicinity. 

Dalny,  as  the  town  of  Dairen  was  originally  called,  is 
in  South  Manchuria.  It  lies  on  the  Chinchow  Peninsula, 
which  is  the  narrow,  extreme  southern  extension  of  Man- 
churia, the  shores  of  which  are  washed  on  one  side  by  the 
Gulf  of  Pechili  and  on  the  other  by  the  Yellow  Sea. 

In  1898  China  leased  the  Chinchow  (or  Liaotung) 
Peninsula  to  Russia,  who  at  once  started  the  fortification 
of  Port  Arthur  and  the  foundation  of  a  commercial  port 
to  which  they  gave  the  name  of  Dalny,  meaning  "The 
Far  Away."  Dalny  was  but  thirty  miles  or  so  from  Port 
Arthur.  When  I  visited  Manchuria  in  the  autumn  of 
1900  the  Russians  were  most  enthusiastic  with  reference 
to  Dalny.  In  the  two  years  that  had  passed  since  their 
lease  of  the  peninsula  they  had  laid  out  a  model  little 
metropolis.  A  pier  had  been  built,  waterworks,  electric 
lighting,  drainage  and  street  construction  were  proceeding 
apace,  and  many  houses  had  been  raised,  though  most  of 
them  were  planned  for  the  use  of  the  constructors  of  the 
city-to-be. 

In  1904  came  the  Russo-Japanese  War,  and  at  its  close, 
when  Russia  by  the  Treaty  of  Portsmouth  gave  over  its 
lease  of  the  Chinchow  Peninsula  to  the  victorious  Japanese, 
Japan  found  the  completion  of  the  work  begun  a  com- 
paratively easy  matter. 

The  Russian  idea  of  Port  Arthur  was  by  no  means 
taken  over  by  the  Japanese  when  they  started  what  they 
call  the  "Government  of  the  Kwangtung  Leased  Terri- 

H  97 


98  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

tory,"  the  headquarters  of  which  is  in  Port  Arthur.  Russia 
barred  no  one  from  what  she  hoped  and  trusted  would 
prove  her  impregnable  fortress  in  the  Far  East.  As  I 
remember  the  town  in  Russian  days,  from  two  to  three 
thousand  foreigners  forgathered  there,  and  business 
boomed  thereabouts.  Japan  kept  the  foreigner  out  of  Port 
Arthur.  When  I  visited  the  place  in  October,  1916,  I 
was  told  that  but  one  European,  a  Swiss  missionary, 
resided  in  the  town. 

All  that  Port  Arthur  was  asked  from  the  Japanese  was 
to  provide  a  fortress  and  naval  base.  Of  Dalny  they  asked 
great  commercial  growth  and  expansion.  They  planned 
she  should  be  a  Queen  City  of  the  East.  But  they  went 
about  their  work  in  the  wrong  way. 

They  changed  the  name  of  Dalny  to  Dairen  and  of 
Port  Arthur  to  Lushun.  The  first  change  stuck,  the  second 
did  not  do  so.  jMost  people  in  the  East  speak  of  Dairen 
to-day  when  mentioning  that  city,  but  Port  Arthur  will 
remain  Port  Arthur  till  the  end,  Japanese  station  signs, 
time-tables,  guide  books,  official  documents  and  such 
adjuncts  notwithstanding. 

Dairen  and  the  South  IManchurian  Railway  are  so 
closely  connected  and  one  so  interwoven  with  the  other 
that  the  two  might  almost  be  taken  as  one  whole.  That 
is  one  reason,  or  bears  closely  upon  one  reason,  why 
Dairen,  fine  city  though  it  appears  to  the  eye,  is  as  dead 
as  a  door-nail  except  for  such  business  and  traffic  and  life 
as  may  come  to  it  at  the  South  IManchurian  Railway's 
hands. 

"The  City  of  Dairen,"  says  the  official  railway  guide 
book,  "has  prospered  exceedingly,  until  now  it  is  one  of 
the  best  laid  out  and  most  imposing  cities  in  the  Orient, 
with  many  magnificent  public  buildings,  fine  streets  and 
parks,  boasting  a  population  of  over  80,000  and  having 
risen  from  the  forty-second  to  the  fifth  port  in  the  trade 
returns  of  the  Chinese  Maritime  Customs.  The  city  is 
well  supplied  with  electricity  and  gas,  has  fine  telephonic, 
telegraphic  and  wireless  telegraphic  communications  and 
good  postal  arrangements.  A  fine  water  supply  has  been 
secured,  and  a  modern  sewerage  system  laid  out  through- 
out the  city." 

Quite  right,   Mr.  Scribe,   quite  right.     But  you  may 


I   GO   TO    MANCHURIA  99 

build  all  the  cities  you  wish  in  that  way,  you  may  devise 
and  construct  an  ideal  town  in  an  ideal  spot,  and  still  lack 
the  vital  attribute  to  the  ultimate  success  of  your  venture. 
A  successful  city  must  be  something  more  than  a  collection 
of  fine  buildings  lining  fine  streets,  with  all  the  improve- 
ments of  civilisation  provided.  A  successful  city  must 
have  not  only  a  population.  It  must  have  a  population 
of  the  right  sort.  That  Dairen  did  not  possess,  and  I 
doubt  if  it  ever  will  possess  it.  Dairen  was  as  silent  as  the 
grave.  No  life,  no  movement,  was  to  be  seen  on  its 
streets.  Its  shops  were  mostly  small  insignificant  stalls 
kept  by  small  insignificant  stall-keepers.  If  they  were  too 
large  to  be  so  classified,  they  were  equally  torpid.  Its 
amusements  were  forced  or  nil  as  the  case  might  be.  The 
town  was  a  dead  town,  a  town  without  heart,  or  soul,  or 
life,  or  anything  that  went  to  make  a  city  that  lives  and 
moves  and  has  being  as  a  city  should. 

Why  ? 

Partly  on  account  of  Japanese  policy  in  Manchuria, 
and  partly  because  of  Japanese  characteristics  in  the 
abstract. 

But  the  city  of  Dairen  was  a  valuable  asset  in  some 
ways  to  the  South  Manchurian  Railway. 

As  a  study  portraying  the  result  of  Japanese  policy 
in  Manchuria,  and,  further,  as  a  commentary  on  Japanese 
characteristics  in  general,  it  had  more  interest  for  me. 

I  spent  a  few  days  there,  meeting  many  men  of  many 
minds. 

Japanese,  Chinese,  British,  American  and  Russian 
opinions  came  to  my  ears.  I  talked  with  Japanese 
generals,  heads  of  departments  civil  and  military,  railway 
officials  from  the  vice-president  of  the  South  Manchurian 
Railway  all  the  way  down  to  junior  officials  of  the  line, 
consuls,  heads  of  all  sorts  of  businesses,  banking  men, 
shippers,  steamship  men,  importers,  exporters,  miners, 
mechanical  men,  newspaper  men,  hotel  men,  Customs 
officials,  high  Chinese  dignitaries,  Chinese  not  digni- 
taries at  all  and  most  lowly  in  comparison.  I  talked  with 
lots  of  people,  many,  many  of  whom  had  lots  to  sav. 

And  one  thing  above  all  else  I  had  continually  thrown 
at  me  in  Manchurin  :  "Don't  quote  me  as  saying  that." 
It  was  universal.     The  higher  the  person  in  position  the 


100  THE   FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

less  he  wanted  his  opinion  in  print  as  having  fallen  from 
his  lips. 

The  Japanese  who  talked  plainly  and  happened  in  so 
doing  unduly  to  criticise  Japanese  methods  or  action  had 
best  pack  his  trunk.  That  was  just  as  true,  or  more  so, 
of  the  European  in  Dairen.  No  man,  no  matter  what  his 
business  connections,  could  stay  in  Dairen  one  month  if 
the  Japanese  authorities  discovered  he  was  acting  the 
carping  critic  in  their  midst. 

They  did  not  want  that  sort  of  citizen  in  Dairen.  That 
was  one  of  the  explanations  of  Dairen  itself,  in  an  indirect 
sense. 


CHAPTER    XXII.  :   .; 

THE     SOUTH     MANCHU'RIAN  ,  RAO^ViAY'^:  j%  i  j  ;]•; 

The  South  Manchurian  Railway,  50  per  cent,  of  the  stock 
of  which  was  in  1916  owned  by  the  Japanese  Government, 
practicaHy  owns  Dairen. 

The  railway  runs  a  tourist  agency  which  gets  into  touch 
with  practically  every  traveller  who  journeys  in  those 
parts.  The  only  hotel  worthy  of  the  name,  the  only  hotel 
which  serves  food  in  European  style,  belongs  to  the  rail- 
way company.  The  docks,  where  most  of  Dairen 's  busi- 
ness centres,  are  owned  by  the  railway  company.  The 
street  car  system  belongs  to  the  railway.  The  electric  light 
plant  is  operated  by  the  railway  company,  as  is  the  gas- 
works. A  budding  and  prospective  summer  resort  hotel  a 
few  miles  from  Dairen,  where  a  ^,'4,000  nine-hole  golf 
course  has  been  laid  as  bait,  is  a  railway  venture,  as  is  the 
suburban  tramway  line  running  to  it,  one  of  two  such 
lines  owned  by  the  railway.  The  railway  repair  and  con- 
struction works  near  Dairen  are  the  biggest  single  plant 
thereabouts,  and  a  large  experimental  bean  mill  near  Dairen 
is  another  railway  enterprise.  A  fine  hospital,  a  school  and 
a  technical  school  as  well  are  under  railway  company  con- 
trol. A  sort  of  pleasure  garden,  in  which  the  sad,  lonely 
scattering  of  visitors  stroll  mournfully  about,  a  place  called 
the  Fushimidai  Electric  Park,  is  Dairen 's  show-place  for 
amusement  and  is,  of  course,  under  railway  direction.  A 
better  source  of  amusement  to  European  residents  is  a 
daily  paper  published  in  English  of  a  sort.  This  paper 
is  produced  by  the  company  and  edited  by  one  of  its 
employees.  This  is  the  only  paper  published  in  would-be 
English  in  all  Manchuria. 

The  railway,  in  fact,  is  "the  whole  show  "  in  what  is 
known  in  Manchuria  as  "the  railway  area."  This  not  only 
includes  Dairen,  but  all  other  towns  on  the  railway.  The 
company  assumes  the  obligation  of  providing  education, 

lOI 


102  THE    FAR   EAST  UNVEILED 

public  works,  hygienic  welfare  and  such  requisites  in  the 
railway  area,  and  has  been  empowered  by  the  Japanese 
Government  to  collect  a  house  rate  from  the  residents  in 
such  area.  The  manner  in  which  the  house  rate  is  assessed 
is  a  joke,  by  the  way-  The  resident,  Japanese  or  foreign, 
is  aslcd  to  state  the  .amount  of  his  salary.  His  word  is 
tak.en  for  the  return  given  and  he  is  assessed  on  the  figure 
th'js  ;obiainod,  rather  than  on  any  rateable  value  of  the 
property  itself. 

The  railway  company  thus  having  been  delegated 
powers  by  the  Government  whereby  it  can  collect  rates  and 
fees  as  contributions  toward  the  cost  of  the  management  of 
the  district,  has  published  conditions  concerning  residence 
in  the  railway  area.  The  making  of  parks,  cemeteries, 
crematoriums,  slaughter-houses,  markets  and  many  other 
institutions  come  under  railway  control.  Then,  finally, 
the  land  itself  in  the  railway  area  belongs  to  the  company, 
of  course,  and  it  and  whatever  house  or  business  property 
may  be  erected  upon  it,  the  company  leases  to  such  appli- 
cants as  may  meet  with  its  approval. 

The  railway  company  knows  all  that  occurs  in  Dairen. 
I  was  shown  a  list  of  fourscore  businesses  to  which  a  loan 
had  been  made  by  the  Yokohama  Specie  Bank  to  encourage 
Japanese  enterprise  in  a  humble  sphere  and  amidst  humble 
surroundings.  Barbers,  tobacconists,  small  greengrocers 
and  little  tradesmen  of  all  sorts  were  thus  fostered  by  the 
ever  observant  overlords  of  the  soil. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  this  sort  of  fostering  works  but  little 
real  benefit  to  the  Japanese  small  tradesman.  In  Dairen 
he  may  keep  going,  for  Dairen  is  special  ground,  conducted 
under  a  special  set  of  circumstances.  In  a  town  like 
Mukden,  on  the  other  hand,  the  Japanese  small  trader 
fares  badly.  He  is  no  match  for  his  Chinese  competitor. 
In  Mukden  one  may  see  many  a  closed  and  abandoned  shop 
where  some  Japanese  has  essayed  a  business  venture  only 
to  retire  shortly  afterward,  ignominiously  beaten  by  his 
Manchurian   rivals. 

The  Japanese  are  by  no  means  a  thoroughly  good  busi- 
ness people  yet.  In  japan  business  ability  and,  to  some 
extent,  business  probity  are  gaining  ground.  vSome  doubt 
that  there  is  improvement  as  to  probity,  but  I  think  there 
are  indisputable  evidences  of  it  in  some  quarters. 


THE    SOUTH    MANGHURIAN    RAILWAY    103 

The  area  covered  by  the  South  Manchurian  Railway  is 
considerable.  It  extends  from  Changchun  on  the  north  to 
Dairen  on  the  south  in  a  fairly  direct  line  running  for  437 >^ 
miles  from  north-east  to  south-west.  Other  railway 
branches  besides  this  main  road  are  the  Port  Arthur  branch 
line  of  28.8  miles;  the  Liushutun  branch  line  of  3.6  miles; 
the  Yinkau  (Newchwang)  branch  line  of  13.4  miles;  the 
Yentai  branch  line  of  9.7  miles;  the  Fushun  branch  line  of 
38.9  miles;  and  the  Mukden-Antung  line,  that  leads  away 
to  Korea,  or  Chosen  as  the  Japanese  call  it,  which  has  a 
mileage  of  170.7.  Thus  the  South  Manchurian  Railway 
lines  cover  over  700  miles  of  ground  in  one  part  of  Man- 
churia and  another. 

When,  by  the  Treaty  of  Portsmouth  of  September, 
1905,  Russia  transferred  to  Japan  that  part  of  the  Chinese 
Eastern  Railway  south  of  Changchun,  w'hich  now  consti- 
tutes the  main  artery  of  the  South  Manchurian  Railway, 
Russia  transferred  with  it,  in  diplomatic  parlance,  "all 
the  rights,  -concessions  and  properties  appertaining 
thereto."  The  "properties  appertaining  thereto  "  included 
the  coal  mines  formerly  owned  by  the  Chinese  Eastern 
Railway.  The  South  Manchurian  Railway  Company  was 
formed  in  the  summer  of  1906,  and  in  April,  1907,  the  Field 
Railway  Department  of  the  Japanese  Army  formally 
transferred  the  raihvay  and  all  its  appurtenances  to  the  new 
company. 

In  March,  1915,  the  S.M.R.  Company's  officials  num- 
bered 4,724  and  its  employees  18,119,  the  latter  consisting- 
of  8,443  Japanese  and  9,676  Chinese.  The  company's 
rolling  stock  at  that  time  was  267  locomotives,  3,186  goods 
cars  and  196  passenger  cars.  For  1913,  the  year  before 
the  sudden  fall  in  the  price  of  silver  and  the  Great  War  in 
Europe,  the  South  Manchurian  Railway  carried  4,143,687 
passengers  and  5,782,161  tons  of  freight  as  against 
1,868,140  passengers  in  1908  and  2,609,036  tons  of  freight 
in  that  year.  That  five  years'  increase  shows  very  fairly 
the  relative  expansion  of  the  company's  interests  and  scope. 
Its  half-score  of  chartered  steamers,  its  coal  mines,  includ- 
ing the  great  Fushun  Mine,  are  all  evidences  of  steady  and 
continuous  development. 

As  the  railway  company  was  given  the  control  of  the 
land  which  Japan  acquired  from  Russia  in  1905  with  the 


104  THE    FAR   EAST  UNVEILED 

actual  line  of  railway,  the  company  found  itself,  at  the 
time  of  its  formation,  in  possession  of  50,000  acres  of 
Manchurian  soil. 

Thus,  owning  all  the  property  adjacent  to  the  only  lines 
of  communication  in  Manchuria,  owning  almost  everything 
else  in  sight  of  the  actual  railway  line,  the  S.M.R.  has  qy 
considerable  voice  in  what  goes  on  in  Manchuria,  whether 
inside  of  the  railway  zone  or  outside  of  it. 

By  the  Portsmouth  treaty  Russia  kept  the  railway  line 
from  Changchun  to  Harbin.  This  147  miles  of  line  is  all 
that  remained  to  Russia  of  the  once  famous  south  section 
of  the  Chinese  Eastern  Railway,  after  its  more  important 
portion  to  the  southward  fell  to  Japan. 

At  Harbin,  on  the  north  frontier  of  Manchuria,  three 
great  lines  meet.  The  Siberian  railway  from  Irkutsk  on 
the  west,  the  Vladivostok  lines,  and  the  line  to  Changchun 
and  the  south  join  at  Harbin.  The  fertile  region  between 
Harbin  and  Changchun  was  in  1916  supposed  to  be  under 
Russian  rule. 

A  new  treaty  between  Russia  and  Japan  was  made  in 
1916. 

By  that  treaty  Japan  will  realise  a  long-felt  want.  The 
soya  bean  grows  well  in  Manchuria,  but  nowhere  in  Man- 
churia does  it  grow  so  well  as  in  the  western  edge  of  the 
Province  of  Kirin,  which  is  traversed  by  that  147  miles  of 
railway  from  Harbin  to  Changchun.  When  the  Great 
War  ends,  or  possibly  before,  Japan  will  take  over  that 
bit  of  line,  and  the  South  Manchurian  Railway's  jurisdic- 
tion and  control  will  extend  from  Changchun,  its  present 
northern  point,  still  further  north  to  Harbin. 

Incidentally,  Russian  monopoly  of  the  rights  and  privi- 
leges of  navigation  of  the  upper  reaches  of  the  River  Sun- 
gari,  in  central  Manchuria,  will  go  by  the  board.  Japan 
wishes  freedom  on  the  Sungari. 

A  reliable  and  well-informed  friend  in  Harbin  has 
noticed  repeated  instances  of  Japanese  loans  of  money  on 
mortgage  to  both  Russian  and  Chinese  landholders  in 
Harbin.     The  Japanese  are  getting  a  hold  there. 


CHAPTER    XXIII 

A  VISIT  TO  THE   SHAHOKOU    WORKS 

^Whex  the  question  of  the  Mastery  of  the  Pacific  is  under 
discussion ;  when  men  are  expounding"  their  views  on 
Japanese  policy  toward  China;  when  wiseacres  in  the  Far 
East  express  themselves  forciblx^  and  in  almost  invariably 
vague  terms  as  to  the  Open  Door  in  Manchuria;  when 
foreign  business  men  in  China  speak  on  their  pet  subject 
of  Japanese  commercial  expansion ;  in  short,  on  most  occa- 
sions when  Japan  or  things  Japanese  are  in  the  foreground 
of  whatever  argument  one  may  be  hearing,  Japanese  labour 
is  sure  to  be  mentioned. 

Japanese  labour  is  cheap.  That  is  the  universal 
opinion.  There  is  an  abundance  of  it.  That  everybody 
says.  A  cursory  knowledge  of  wages  and  cost  of  living 
in  Japan  proves  the  former  statement.  The  fact  that  the 
population  of  Japan,  already  70,000,000 — including  the 
Japanese  in  Taiwan  (Formosa),  Chosen  (Korea),  and 
Manchuria — is  increasing  by  some  600,000  souls  or  more 
per  year  would  seem  to  go  far  toward  proving  the  latter 
contention. 

Japanese  goods  are  sold  on  the  Chinese  and  Man- 
churian  markets  at  prices  which  strengthen  such  vieMS. 

Japanese  labour  may  undeniably  be  had  for  a  very  low 
remuneration,  and  great  numbers  of  Japanese  exist  who 
might  be  called  upon  to  labour  in  various  avenues  of  daily 
toil.  But  there  is  another  important  factor  of  labour. 
That  factor  is  the  quality  of  it. 

I  have  met  both  Englishmen  and  Americans  in  the 
Far  East  who  talked  nonsense  about  the  Japanese,  but  on 
no  one  point  have  such  men  been  so  hopelessly  at  sea  as  on 
subjects  connected  with  Japanese  labour.  I  know  men  of 
usually  sound  judgment  who  think  the  Japanese  will 
dominate  many  spheres  in  the  Far  East  where  to  mv  mind 
they  will  never  have  a  ghost  of  a  chance  to  hold  their  own. 

105 


io6  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

I  learned  something  about  Japanese  labour  and  the 
Japanese  labouring  man  in  Manchuria.  I  learned  some- 
thing about  him  in  Chosen  too,  and  nothing  I  saw  or 
heard  in  Chosen  made  me  change  the  opinions  I  formed  in 
Manchuria.  Later  I  was  put  in  close  touch  with  the 
working  man  in  Japan  proper.  He  possesses  few  attri- 
butes his  colonial  brother  a  few  miles  away  on  the  con- 
tinent does  not. 

I  asked  to  be  shown  over  the  railway  workshops  at 
Shahokou,  a  couple  of  miles  from  Dairen.  These  work- 
shops are  described  in  the  South  Manchurian  Railway 
Company's  literature  as  the  largest  and  most  up-to-date 
in  the  Far  East.  They  were  started  towards  the  end  of 
1908  and  completed  in  the  summer  of  191 1.  They  were 
planned  to  have  the  capacity  of  executing  repairs  simul- 
taneously on  25  locomotives,  36  passenger  coaches,  and 
130  goods  wagons  of  30  tons  each,  and  at  the  same  time 
constructing  and  repairing  other  railway  and  mining 
materials. 

More,  the  company  built  a  model  village  about  the 
shops,  providing  rent-free  cottages  of  a  good  type  for  over 
2,000  workmen  and  their  families.  Special  attention  was 
paid  to  the  streets,  sewerage  and  water  supply  of  this  little 
colony.  Schools,  hospitals,  a  post-office,  a  library,  a 
meeting-hall,  shops  and  a  market  were  also  provided. 
The  village  of  Shahokou  is  self-contained. 

The  administration  building  of  the  works  has,  of  course, 
an  imposing  front.  Japan  in  Manchuria  goes  in  for  that 
sort  of  thing. 

I  met  the  head  of  the  works  and  had  a  chat  with  him. 
Later,  he  placed  me  in  the  hands  of  a  clever  young  Japanese 
gentleman,  a  Mr.  Yamashita.  This  young  engineer  knew 
not  a  little  of  the  greater  railway  shops  of  both  America 
and  England.  He  proved  a  capable,  obliging  and  in- 
formative guide.  The  more  young  men  of  his  type  pro- 
duced by  Japan  the  more  rapid  will  be  her  development, 
not  only  along  mechanical  lines. 

We  inspected  most  departments  of  the  plant.  Good 
testing  machines  filled  (he  testing  building.  An  ingenious 
apparatus  for  testing  the  accuracy  and  efficiency  of  the 
designer's  ideas  proved  to  have  originated  in  the  mind  of 
Mr.  Yamashita. 


A   VISIT   TO   THE    SHAHOKOU    WORKS  107 

The  main  building;,  at  the  end  which  we  entered,  was 
crowded  with  boiler  work.  Three  large  bays  beyond 
showed  considerable  activity.  The  first  one  accommodated 
23  engines,  a  lOO-ton  crane  picking  up  the  locomotives 
from  the  track  at  the  end  of  the  building  and  swinging 
them  along  like  buckets  of  coal  to  some  point  where  space 
permitted  their  being  deposited.  A  new  six-driver  engine 
of  85  tons,  just  nearing  completion  and  built  to  the  order 
of  the  Chosen  Railway,  was  one  of  the  exhibits  in  this  shop. 
Of  1,200  horse-power,  equipped  with  a  superheater  system, 
this  engine  was  built  to  attain  a  maximum  speed  of  55  miles 
per  hour. 

"She  will  never  be  called  upon  to  do  that,"  said  my 
guide  with  a  smile,  "for  the  best  average  obtained  by  the 
trains  on  the  road  over  which  she  will  run,  including  stops, 
will  never  be  greater  than  from  25  to  30  miles  per  hour." 

Another  engine,  having  been  thoroughly  overhauled, 
was  undergoing  an  oil-fuel  boiler  test. 

The  other  two  big  ba)'s  of  the  main  building  wTre  full 
of  good,  modern  machinery  and  tool-machines.  "At 
first,"  said  Mr.  Yamashita,  "we  bought  English  machin- 
ery, but  later  we  have  bought  chiefly  American  machines, 
particularly  as  to  the  automatics." 

"Can  you  get  what  you  need  without  difficulty?"  I 
asked.  "Is  your  board  of  directors  liberal  in  supplying 
your  requirements?  I  see  many  good  tools  of  late  type, 
high  price  and  maximum  efficiency.  Do  you  find  your 
people  broad-minded  about  scrapping  useless  stuff  and 
purchasing  later  type  equipment  for  3^our  shops?  " 

"We  never  scrap  machinery  here,"  was  the  laughing 
reply.  "Our  people  are  very  good  about  getting  us  jjhat 
we  want  in  the  wav  of  new  machinery.  I  can  always  have 
what  I  ask  for.  But  they  don't  like  scrapping  the  old 
stuff.  We  have  loatis  of  it  piled  away.  Our  newer, 
heavier  machines  are  capable  of  work  on  a  much  larger 
scale  in  this  particular  department  (axle  work)  than  the 
machines  they  replaced,  but  you  would  smile  to  see  how 
carefully  I  have  to  store  away  the  old  stuff.  No,  we  have 
not  learnt  to  scrap  machines  yet,  in  a  literal  sense. 

"Our  first  engines  were  American,"  he  went  on.  "For 
that  matter  our  rolling  stock  was  American.  Our  steel 
bridges  are  American  too,  and  the  most  and  best  of  our 


io8  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

mining  machinery.  Did  the  American  locomotives  do 
well?     Yes.     We  found  them  very  good." 

Across  a  central  avenue,  above  which  a  running  lo-ton 
crane  operated,  we  found  compact  and  businesslike  foun- 
dries and  moulding-rooms,  as  well  as  a  small  Bessemer 
plant.  The  buildings  were  well  arranged  and  well  built, 
the  roofs  being  of  saw-tooth  construction. 

A  large  stores  building  was  conveniently  placed  in  the 
centre  of  the  works  area.  The  truck  shop,  home  of  odd 
jobs,  was  piled  deep  with  work.  The  sawmill,  with  neat 
dust-gathering  devices  to  save  the  sawdust  for  fuel,  held 
piles  of  lumber,  mostly  from  Japan  or  Chosen.  America 
supplied  the  pine  boards.  The  pine  and  such  mahogany 
as  might  be  required  were  the  only  foreign  woods  used. 
The  carriage  shop  and  paint  shop  showed  many  completed 
coaches  and  wagons. 

"I  see  much  work  in  hand  that  does  not  appear  to  be 
car  work,"  I  remarked. 

"Yes,"  said  jMr.  Yamashita,  "60  per  cent,  of  the  work 
you  see  is  for  someone  other  than  the  South  Manchurian 
Railway  itself.  The  company  has  about  300  engines  on  its 
lines  now.  We  keep  these  in  order  and  the  engines  of  the 
Chosen  Railway  as  well.  But  we  do  a  lot  of  work  for  the 
mines  and  factories  in  Manchuria.  We  bid  on  any  job 
for  anybody." 

We  discussed  steels.  Sheffield  supplied  some  of  the 
steel  for  the  Shahokou  Works  in  normal  times,  but  most 
of  it  came  from  America.  I  spoke  of  the  steel  made  in 
Japan.  I  had  heard  of  a  multitude  of  troubles  experienced 
by  the  Russians  with  some  of  the  field-guns  supplied  by 
the  Japanese  during  the  present  war.  Other  war  material 
of  Japanese  steel  had,  I  was  told  on  good  authority,  proved 
a  great  disappointment  to  Russia. 

"When  the  war  is  over  and  your  steelworks  in  Japan 
are  free  to  supply  peace  orders,"  I  said,  "I  suppose  you 
will  get  your  steel  from  Japan  rather  than  from  America?  " 

The  railway  man  shook  his  head. 

"Not  until  it  is  better  than  it  is  now,"  was  his  comment. 
"I  am  a  bit  sceptical  of  it.  It  will  have  to  be  right  before 
we  will  use  it  here." 

The  power-house,  with  two  big  generators,  both  under 
a  load,  and  with  serviceable  Babcock  and  Wilcox  boilers 


A    VISIT   TO    THE    SHAHOKOU    WORKS  109 

in  the  boiler-room,  was  running  full  tilt.  Coal  is  cheap  at 
Shahokou,  for  the  Fushun  Mine,  one  of  the  biggest  coal 
mines  in  the  Far  East,  is  not  far  away  and  belongs  to  the 
South  Manchurian  Railway. 

After  discussing  the  weight  of  the  carriages,  which  are 
on  the  heavy  side,  and  talking  about  the  roadbed  of  the 
railway  lines,  which  is  of  Manchurian  gravel  and  highly 
satisfactory,  we  at  last  approached  the  subject  of  labour. 

As  I  had  spent  a  couple  of  hours  strolling  through  the 
various  departments,  pausing  here  and  there  to  inspect  this 
or  to  ask  about  that,  I  had  been  observing  the  working- 
men.  The  more  I  watched  them,  the  more  I  wanted  to 
know  about  them. 


CHAPTER    XXIV 

ON   JAPANESE   AND   CHINESE  LABOUR 

"We  have  plenty  of  work  lo  do  at  the  present  time,"  said 
Mr.  Yamashita.  "We  keep  from  2,400  to  2,600  workmen 
busy.     Half  of  these  are  Japanese,  half  Chinese." 

The  model  village  of  Shahokou,  built  at  considerable 
expense  to  house  2,000  Japanese  employees  of  the  railway 
works  and  their  families,  was  not  full,  then,  though  the 
shops  might  be  full  of  work. 

"I  suppose  you  do  not  allow  any  of  the  1,200  to  1,300 
Chinese  workmen  to  live  in  the  model  village  ? "  I 
queried. 

"Oh  no,"  was  the  reply,  "they  are  outside,  beyond 
the  gates.  Beyond  the  pale,  would  you  say  ?  "  And  he 
laughed  as  he  thought  of  the  absurdity  of  a  Chinese  in 
one  of  those  model  Japanese  cottages. 

"But  I  have  been  watching  closely  all  round  the 
works,"  I  said,  "and  I  think  the  Chinese  workmen  a 
rather  fine  lot.  They  seem  to  be  engaged  in  the  more 
important  work  in  several  departments." 

With  that  remark  I  unconsciously  hit  upon  a  hobby 
of  Mr.  Yamashita.  The  men  and  the  work,  that  was 
his  "pidgin."  He  had  travelled  widely,  seen  much  and 
absorbed  an  unusual  amount  of  what  he  had  seen.  He 
was  keen  on  geUing  the  work  through,  and  on  "getting 
it  through  right."  The  cost  of  the  job  was  his  business, 
too.  I  had  talked  alloys  of  steel  for  this,  and  percentages 
of  carbon  in  steel  for  that,  without  arousing  great 
enthusiasm  in  Mr.  Yamashita,  but  when  we  came  to  a 
discussion  of  the  workmen  themselves  it  took  little 
questioning  or  prompting  to  get  him  started. 

"Undoubtedly  the  Chinese  are  better  workmen  than 
the  Japanese.  There  can  be  no  two  opinions  on  that 
head."  The  young  engineer  spoke  decisively  and  as  if 
he  knew  what  he  was  talking  about. 

no 


ON    JAPANESE    AND    CHINESE    LABOUR  m 

"To  begin  with,  the  Chinese,  man  for  man,  is  far 
stronger  than  the  Japanese.  He  applies  himself  much 
better.  When  I  pass  through  the  works  and  a  hammer- 
blow  falls  behind  me  I  can  tell  without  turning  to  look 
at  the  striker  whether  he  is  Chinese  or  Japanese.  It  is 
easy  to  tell  from  the  sound  of  the  blow.  Besides,  the 
Chinese  keep  at  their  work  better.  The  Japanese  talk  too 
much.  To  be  fair,  the  Japanese  are  not  in  the  same  class 
as  the  Chinese  as  workmen. 

"If  I  were  running  these  works  with  the  sole  idea  of 
arranging  my  labour  so  as  to  provide  the  greatest 
economy  I  would  have  about  four  to  five  Chinese  to  one 
Japanese  in  the  works.  But,  of  course,  this  is  a  semi- 
Government  concern.  The  policy  from  above  might  not 
concur  with  that  idea.  Moreover,  we  have  brought  our 
Japanese  workmen  over  here  and  given  them  free  homes 
and  in  a  way  implanted  them  in  Manchuria,  and  we  could 
not  well  and  fairly  replace  them  with  Chinese  and  throw 
them  out  of  work. 

"What  are  our  working  hours  in  the  shops?  Ten 
hours  a  day,  ordinarily.  Never  less.  Time  off  for 
meals?  Yes.  One  half  an  hour  in  the  middle  of  the 
day." 

I  laughed  as  I  thought  of  British  or  American  work- 
men and  their  views  on  that  head.  A  big,  husky  North- 
umbrian or  Scottish  railway  shop-hand  that  would  be 
put  on  ten  hours'  work  with  only  one  half-hour  stop  for 
meals  would  have  a  bit  to  say  about  it. 

"Do  we  work  any  overtime?  Frequently.  Some- 
times nowadays  we  even  have  to  work  quite  a  bit  at  night. 
With  the  same  men?  Yes.  We  have  no  others  for 
night-shifts.  They  seem  to  stand  it  all  right.  There  is 
no  evidence  that  they  particularly  object  to  it.  It  means 
more  money  to  them.  Do  we  work  only  six  days  in  the 
week?  Well,  we  don't  stop  work  every  Sunday,  if  that 
is  what  you  mean.  We  stop  work  for  two  days  in  each 
month.  Except  for  those  two  rest-days  the  men  Avork 
seven  days  each  week." 

This  led  to  a  discussion  on  technical  works-subjects, 
involving  the  psychology  of  workmen  in  general  and 
Japanese  and  Chinese  workmen  in  particular.  I  stood 
at  one  end  of  the  line  of  argument,   possessing  a   firm 


112  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

belief  that  I  could  get  as  much  practical,  efficient  results 
of  labour  out  of  a  skilled  workman  in  a  forty-five  hour 
week  as  could  be  gotten  out  of  him  in  fifty  hours  or  more 
of  work  in  any  consecutive  six  days.  Mr.  Yamashita,  at 
the  other  end,  talked  on  that  subject  from  the  Oriental 
standpoint. 

The  sum  total  of  what  he  said  might  be  put  bluntly 
as  follows:  "The  Chinese  worker  keeps  at  his  work  all 
the  time.  He  is  very  serious  about  it.  Very  rarely  does 
one  find  anything  in  the  nature  of  a  slacker  among  the 
Chinese  workmen.  The  Japanese  are  not  so  good  as 
that,  but  close  application  to  labour  for  continuous  hours 
and  days  is  by  no  means  foreign  to  them.  Nevertheless, 
the  Chinese  keep  at  the  work  in  a  different  way,  a  far 
more  efficient  way.  They  waste  no  time  in  talk.  They 
just  plod  on.  It  really  seems  as  if  they  prefer  working 
seven  days  each  week  to  six.  They  are  frugal  and  truly 
industrious  in  every  sense,  more  so  than  the  Japanese 
workmen.  They  want  to  make  money,  and  they  will 
work  hard  and  work  long  hours  for  it.  With  their 
capacity  for  labour,  their  great  individual  strength  and 
endurance,  and  the  close  application  they  give  to  their 
work,  the  Japanese  workmen  cannot  compare  and  in  one 
sense  cannot  compete  with  the  Chinese. 

"Our  Japanese  workmen  are  just  beginning  to  think 
a  little  about  labour  rights,"  said  Mr.  Yamashita  as  I 
steered  the  conversation  round  to  labour  unions  in 
Western  countries.  "We  hear  a  word  or  two  about  it 
now  and  again,  but,"  and  he  grinned  broadly,  "we  shall 
not  be  bothered  by  anything  like  that  in  Japan,  at  least 
for  some  time.  The  Government  keeps  a  very  strict  eye 
on  that  sort  of  thing,  and  has  a  very  heavy  hand  ready 
for  any  such  movement. 

"Do  the  workmen  seem  to  seek  to  improve  their 
standard  of  living  as  they  make  money  ?  The  Japanese 
do  so.  The  more  they  make  the  better  things  they  want. 
It  is  not  so  with  the  Chinese.  They  want  to  work  all  the 
time.  They  care  little  or  nothing  for  holidays.  And 
ihev  hoard  the  money  they  make. 

"Chinese  foremen?  There  are  not  any  here."  Mr. 
Yamashita  gave  me  an  expressive  smile,  as  if  there  were 
other  reasons  for  that  than  anything  to  do  with  ability 


I 


ON    JAPANESE   AND    CHINESE    LABOUR  113 

on  the  part  of  the  Chinese.  I  had  seen  Chinese  directing 
jobs  in  more  than  one  department  of  the  works  as  I  passed 
through,  but  not  as  foremen,  of  course. 

"Do  the  Japanese  and  Chinese  workmen  get  along 
well  together?  Very  well  indeed.  We  all  like  the 
Chinese.     It  is  very  easy  to  get  on  with  them. 

"What  do  we  pay  our  workmen?  Well,  the  wages 
run  from  one  yen  (2s.)  a  day  to,  say,  two  yen  and  a  half 
(5s.)  at  the  top  for  a  day's  work.  That  is  about  the  most 
money  a  really  skilled  mechanic  can  make  in  a  day  with 
overtime.  He  has  to  be  a  very  good  man  to  make  that 
amount.  We  have  very  few  men  who  earn  less  than  one 
yen  (2s.)  a  day." 

The  average  mechanic  in  the  Shahokou  Works  of  the 
South  Manchurian  Railway  is  paid  about  two  shillings 
and  tenpence  for  his  gl4  hours  of  work. 

Thus  a  seven-day  week  of  work  brings  the  Shahokou 
men  an  average  total  revenue  of  just  under  twenty 
shillings. 

When  the  price  of  living  of  the  Japanese  and  Chinese 
working-man  is  taken  into  consideration,  this  sort  of 
wage,  in  my  opinion,  is  not  exceedingly  "bad  pay." 

"We  have  introduced  a  sort  of  bonus  system,"  said 
Mr.  Yamashita.  "We  do  it  in  this  way:  w^hile  w^e  do 
not  pay  on  an  actual  basis  of  piece-work,  each  piece  has 
a  set  time  allowed  for  its  manufacture  or  repair.  If  a 
job  is  timed  for  ten  hours  and  a  workman  completes  it  in 
eight  hours,  he  is  given  an  additional  time  allowance  of 
twenty  per  cent,  of  the  eight  hours,  and  is  paid  for  that 
extra  two  hours  just  as  though  he  had  worked  the  full 
ten  hours  on  the  job." 

I  could  not  repress  a  smile  to  think  of  an  employer 
who  works  his  men  ten  hours  each  day  with  half  an  hour 
off  for  meals;  gives  them  two  days  off  each  month;  and 
pays  them  an  average  wage  of  less  than  three  shillings 
per  day,  with  a  beneficent  Government  watching  with  a 
"very  strict  eye,"  and  ready  with  a  "very  heavy  hand" 
to  squelch  any  labour  organisation  or  defence  by  labour 
of  itself  or  its  right. 

I  then  thought  of  that  same  employer  setting  the  time 
for  the  manufacture  or  repair  of  a  piece  of  work,  so  that 
a  bonus  could  be  paid  to  the  workman  if  he  completed 
I 


114  THE   FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

the  job  under  the  time  set.  I  imagined  the  workman 
completing  his  task  in  less  than  the  fixed  time  and  getting 
his  bonus,  once.  I  imagined  him  getting  it  twice.  If  I 
stretched  my  imagination  I  could  see  him  doing  it  often. 
But  my  imagination,  elastic  as  it  was,  could  not  stretch 
far  enough  to  see  the  Railway  Company,  through  its 
heads  of  the  Shahokou  Works,  leaving  that  set  time  for 
the  piece  of  work  where  it  rested  when  the  workman  con- 
tinued daily  to  beat  it.  Those,  I  thought,  are  ideal  con- 
ditions of  labour,  for  the  employer  ! 

And  now  for  the  object-lesson.  For  I  found  I  must 
look  behind  and  underneath  things  in  Manchuria  if  I 
was  to  learn  anything  save  surface  truths. 

That  fine-looking  aggregation  of  Chinese  workmen  in 
the  Shahokou  Works  told  a  story.  They  certainly  made 
the  Japanese  workmen  alongside  them  look  a  very  in- 
ferior lot,  as  workmen.  And  so  they  were,  as  could  be 
gathered  from  the  Japanese  engineer's  own  statements. 

The  truth  is  that  the  Japanese  as  a  Japanese  cannot 
hold  a  candle  to  the  Chinese  as  a  Chinese  when  it  comes 
to  the  labour  field.  That  is  true  of  the  workmen  of  the 
two  races  in  every  walk  in  life  that  leads  along  the  path 
of  daily  toil. 

It  is  particularly  true  of  the  farmer  in  Manchuria.  No 
Japanese  farmer  is  in  the  same  class.  No  Japanese  farmer 
can  make  a  living  alongside  the  Chinese  farmer. 

If  the  Chinese  is  so  inherently  and  inevitably  superior 
to  the  Japanese  as  a  worker,  does  it  not  go  far  to  explain 
why,  after  Japan  had  had  a  foothold  in  Manchuria  for  the 
eleven  years  that  had  passed  since  her  acquisition  from 
Russia  of  the  South  Manchurian  Railway  and  the  railway 
area,  there  were  not  more  than  100,000  Japanese  all  told 
in  Manchuria  ? 

It  took  some  trouble  on  my  part  to  get  that  figure  and 
make  sure  that  it  was  right.  One  hundred  thousand 
Japanese  in  all  Manchuria,  excluding  soldiers,  in  eleven 
years,  and  Japan's  surplus  population  worrying  her,  and 
her  people  increasing  in  numbers  at  the  rate  of  more  than 
half  a  million  souls  per  year  ! 

Whatever  Japan  can  do  in  the  Far  East,  no  fears  need 
be  entertained  that  the  Japanese  can  compete  successfully 
with  the  Chinese  in  the  market  of  human  labour. 


ON   JAPANESE    AND   CHINESE    LABOUR  115 

The  big,  outside  Western  capitalist  who  wants  to  do 
some  good  in  the  world  (I  am  not  sufficiently  a  cynic  to 
believe  there  are  no  such  men)  should  turn  his  eyes  to 
the  East. 

In  the  Orient  a  great  nation  of  w^orkers  lies  ready  to 
his  hand,  pliable  and  willing.  If  he  put  capital  at  the 
back  of  them,  taught  them  to  do  his  bidding  as  they  can 
and  will  do  it  if  they  are  shown  how  to  do  it,  he  would 
have  done  his  bit  toward  the  solution  of  a  problem  that 
has  many  sides  and  many  tentacles,  and  not  all  of  them 
steeped  in  rose-water  or  as  pure  and  white  as  the  down 
on  the  bosom  of  the  Dove  of  Peace. 

The  Western  capitalist  could  help  China  by  giving 
some  concrete  assistance  in  the  organisation  of  industries 
to  give  employment  to  the  best  and  most  efficient  workers 
in  the  Far  East. 

And  the  bread  he  would  cast  upon  the  waters  w^ould 
come  back,  flaked  with  gold — but  that  is  outside  the 
present  question. 


CHAPTER    XXV 

COOLIE  LABOUR  AT  THE  DAIREN   DOCKS 

While  I  was  in  Dairen  I  paid  a  visit  to  the  docks. 

There  I  met  Captain  Narasaki,  to  whom  the  South 
Manchurian  Railway  Company  had  entrusted  the 
management  of  its  wharves,  docks  and  everything  else 
pertaining  to  the  harbour  of  Dairen. 

Dairen  has  a  fine  harbour.  It  is  the  only  harbour  in 
all  Manchuria  that  is  free  from  ice  in  the  winter;  it  is  at 
the  end  of  a  railway  that  runs  to  Europe;  and  it  is  but  a 
couple  of  days  from  Shanghai  by  steamer.  The  South 
Manchurian  Railway  Company  were  not  slow  to  see  that 
a  steamship  line  from  Dairen  to  Shanghai  would  connect 
the  shortest  and  quickest  route  from  Europe  to  the  Far 
East  with  the  great  Eastern  metropolis,  and  instituted  a 
service  in  1908.  Three  years  later  the  company  purchased 
a  wharf  at  Shanghai,  with  an  area  of  over  18  acres  of 
land  and  over  2^2  acres  of  building  area  for  warehouses. 

Before  Russia  lost  Dalny,  which  was  Dairen  in  former 
days,  she  had  begun  making  a  line  harbour  out  of  the 
port.  The  Japanese  have  well  completed  the  work 
started  by  the  Russians  and  added  some  frills  of  their 
own.,  The  Russian  dry-dock,  which  could  only  take 
vessels  of  3,000  tons,  now  accommodates  ships  twice  that 
tonnage.  Reclamation  work  near-by  has  given  Japan  a 
serviceable  coal  depot.  Fine  breakwaters  have  been  con- 
structed. More  than  a  thousand  acres  have  been  dredged 
so  that  deep-water  ships  can  enter  at  will.  Two  splendid 
quays  have  been  completed  and  a  third  is  under  way. 
Thirty-odd  warehouses,  loo-ton  tanks  for  bean  oil,  and 
the  latest  improvements  in  buoys  and  signalling  installa- 
tions, are  samples  of  the  efforts  that  have  been  put  forth 
to  make  Dairen  harbour  all  that  it  should  be,  not  only  as 
regards  wharves  and  the  means  of  getting  alongside  them, 
but  as  regards  wharfing  facilities  as  well. 

116 


COOLIE    LABOUR   AT    DAIREN  117 

Captain  Narasaki  had  been  in  charge  of  all  this  work 
for  seven  years,  so  much  of  the  credit  for  the  thoroughness 
of  it  must  go  to  him. 

I  heard  of  Captain  Narasaki  before  I  met  him.  One 
business  man  in  Dairen,  an  EngUshman,  said  to  me, 
"Captain  Narasaki  is  a  white  man."  Another  said, 
"Narasaki  is  a  good  chap  and  a  fine  man  with  whom  to 
deal."  A  third,  the  representative  of  the  biggest  foreign 
shipping  concern  maintaining  an  office  in  Dairen,  said, 
"One  thing  I  can  say  for  Captain  Narasaki  is  that  I  have 
never  yet  gone  to  him  for  anything  that  I  have  not  been 
given  it,  and  in  as  quick  time  as  he  could  get  it  to  me." 

Captain  Narasaki  seemed  to  be  held  in  rather  ex- 
ceptional regard  in  Dairen  by  the  foreign  community 
other  than  Japanese,  when  compared  with  some  of  his 
compatriots  in  Manchuria. 

I  had  a  long  talk  with  Captain  Narasaki.  We  dis- 
cussed many  things,  including  labour  at  the  docks,  and 
the  increase  in  shipping  that  has  come  under  his  rt^gime. 
We  discussed  the  question  of  the  Open  Door  in  Man- 
churia, as  particularly  applied  to  alleged  railway  and 
shipping  rebates  to  Japanese  shippers  and  through  bills 
of  lading  for  Japanese  goods  which  passed  through  the 
Captain's  hands,  destined  for  markets  in  inland 
Manchuria. 

Captain  Narasaki 's  desk  was  in  the  centre  of  a  good- 
sized  room,  surrounded  by  a  score  or  more  of  other  desks, 
at  which  his  assistants  were  hard  at  work  within  the 
sound  of  his  voice.  When  I  asked  a  question  that  in- 
volved figures  in  any  way,  the  Captain  invariably  called 
to  one  of  his  subordinates  to  bring  a  table  of  official 
figures  to  his  aid.  He  knew  most  of  the  figures  well 
enough,  but  had  a  system  that  allowed  him  to  put  his 
finger  on  the  plain  corroboration  of  his  memory,  and  did 
not  disdain  using  it. 

His  manner,  his  speech,  what  he  said  and  the  way  he 
said  it,  and  the  way  he  had  things  about  his  office  at  his 
very  finger-ends  bespoke  the  capable  man  of  business. 

I  asked  Captain  Narasaki  if  he  had  many  Chinese  on 
his  staff.  "Many,"  he  replied,  "good  men,  too.  I  give 
employment  to  about  240  Chinese  in  one  capacity  and 
another  about  Dairen,  not  counting  coolie  labour."     He 


ii8  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

called  to  a  bright-looking  young  Japanese  to  bring  him  a 
book.  Glancing  at  it,  he  said,  "Here  in  the  docks  my 
actual  staff  consists  of  340  Japanese  ^and  160  Chinese. 

"The  Chinese  make  excellent  employees,  as  you  no 
doubt  know.  These  I  have  here  are  mostly  from  Shan- 
tung. I  prefer  them  to  the  Japanese,  speaking  generally. 
They  are  very  steady  and  keep  quiet.  I  am  afraid  that 
cannot  always  be  said  of  my  own  countrymen.  They 
talk  too  much.  No  more  dependable  office  hands  could 
be  desired  than  my  Chinese. 

"In  the  field  of  actual  manual  labour  I  depend  almost 
entirely  upon  the  Chinese.  There  they  have  no  rivals. 
I  do  not  keep  many  of  them  about  during  the  summer. 
Some  of  the  foremen  are  given  permanent  employment, 
but  the  bulk  of  the  Chinese  labour  here  is  employed  only 
in  the  winter  time.  Then  the  frozen  ground  allows  the 
beans,  the  bean-cake  and  the  bean-oil  to  be  brought  to 
the  railway  stations  throughout  Manchuria,  and  our 
docks  begin  to  get  busy  in  earnest. 

"The  four  months  from  December  to  March  see  from 
1,500  to  1,700  tons  of  soya  beans  and  soya-bean  products 
come  down  to  us  from  the  north  every  day.  The  ex- 
amination of  the  beans,  the  unloading  of  the  cars  and 
steamers  and  the  loading  of  them,  the  shifting  from  the 
go-downs  and  the  weighing  are  all  going  on  at  once.  It 
might  surprise  you  to  know  that  an  average  of  50,000 
tons  of  merchandise  is  handled  here  every  day  right 
through  the  winter,  counting  the  re-handling  and  tran- 
shipping and  all  the  rest  of  it.  My  staff  of  Chinese  coolies 
who  move  all  this  50,000  tons  daily  numbers  10,000,  so 
you  see  the  handling  capacity  of  each  coolie  is  just  about 
5  tons  per  day.  That  proves  his  efficiency,  does  it  not? 
No  workman  in  the  world  can  touch  him  at  that  sort  of 
thing,  and  all  without  the  least  bother  or  trouble." 

The  Captain  spoke  with  real  enthusiasm. 

Captain  Narasaki  would  like  to  see  the  opcnest  of 
Open  Doors  in  Manchuria,  if  thereby  his  docks  would 
receive  and  send  away  more  and  more  tonnage  of  freight. 


■*i 


J 


CHAPTER    XXVI 

THE  OPEN   DOOR  FROM  A  JAPANESE  STANDPOINT 

"I  AM  sure  there  are  no  discriminating  rebates  given  to 
Japanese  shippers,  secret  rebates  or  otherwise,  by  the  South 
Manchurian  Railway,"  said  Captain  Narasaki. 

I  told  him  that  it  was  a  rare  thing  to  meet  an  American 
or  English  business  man  in  Manchuria,  or  one  who  had 
business  interests  in  Manchuria,  who  was  not  honestly  con- 
vinced that  some  system  of  secret  rebates  was  in  vogue 
whereby  the  Japanese  shipper  benefited.  I  told  him,  too, 
that  I  had  searched  in  vain  for  the  slightest  evidence  that 
such  a  system  of  rebates  existed. 

"If  such  a  thing  were  in  existence  I  would  surely  get  to 
know  something  about  it,"  Captain  Narasaki  said. 
"Japanese  merchants  ship  through  brokers  in  Japan,  a 
system  which  gives  the  smallest  man,  sometimes,  the 
benefit  of  rates  for  large  quantities,  but  these  rates  for 
large  quantities  are  published,  and  have  nothing  mys- 
terious about  them.  Then,  they  are  extended  to  anyone, 
no  matter  of  what  nationality. 

"  I  cannot  agree  with  the  contention  that  the  Open  Door 
in  Manchuria  has  not  been  kept  open  by  the  Japanese.  I 
have  kept  it  open  here,  so  far  as  I  have  had  anything  to  do 
with  it.  The  Standard  Oil  Company  is  not  hampered. 
German  business  before  the  w'ar  was  not  hampered.  The 
best  proof  of  that  was  the  steady  increase  of  German 
imports  into  Manchuria  before  war  broke  out.  The  Ger- 
mans proved  themselves  smart  men.  They  were  paying 
great  attention  to  Manchuria  and  were  streets  ahead  of  the 
other  nationals  here.  The  German  consuls  help  their 
merchants,  and  the  two  work  smartly  together.  No 
Japanese  consuls  pay  the  attention  to  the  advance  of 
Japanese  business  to  the  extent  that  the  German  consuls 
did.  Further,  the  German  business  men  know  the  Chinese 
and  understand  them  better  than  any  other  foreigners  in 

119 


120  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

Manchuria,  Japanese  not  excepted.  To  my  mind,  if  the 
merchants  of  other  nations  do  not  wake  up,  it  will  be  the 
Germans  who  will  be  getting  the  trade  of  Manchuria  after 
the  war,  if  they  are  allowed  to  do  so,  not  the  Japanese.  If 
there  is  no  Open  Door  in  Manchuria,  how  do  the  Germans 
get  through  ? 

"The  business  that  comes  to  Dairen  from  Shanghai  is 
on  the  increase,  too.  Let  me  give  you  the  figures  of  the 
amount  of  merchandise  in  tons  that  comes  to  us  from 
Shanghai  and  the  comparative  figures  for  former  years. 
In  191 1  the  imports  from  Shanghai  that  passed  through 
my  hands  totalled  44,437  tons;  in  1912,  79,811  tons;  in 
1913,  79,960  tons;  in  1914,  75, 811  ;  and  in  1915  we  reached 
115,959  tons.  Most  of  that  represents  Chinese  goods. 
Some  American  goods  may  be  in  those  figures,  goods 
transhipped  from  Kobe  or  Shanghai.  Very  few  steamers 
are  running  out  here  now,  comparatively,  except  Japanese, 
on  account  of  the  war." 

I  asked  the  Captain  how  much  of  the  freight  from 
Shanghai  was  coming  in  19 16.  More  than  in  191 5  by  a 
considerable  figure,  he  told  me.  Then  I  asked  him  how 
much  of  the  Shanghai  freight  was  carried  in  Japanese  bot- 
toms, or  in  ships  chartered  by  the  Japanese.  After  some 
compilation  of  figures  he  showed  me  that  65,373  tons  of 
the  75,811  shipped  in  1914,  and  88,748  tons  of  the  115,959 
shipped  in  19 15  came  to  Dairen  in  the  South  Manchurian 
Railway  Company's  steamers.  That  meant  that  other 
steamers  than  Japanese  brought  10,438  tons  of  freight 
from    Shanghai    to    Dairen    in    1914   and    27,211    tons    in 

1915- 

I  had  hundreds  of  sets  of  figures  showered  upon  me 
that  afternoon.  Briefly  summarising  some  of  them  shows 
the  growth  of  the  business  of  Dairen  and  the  extent  of  it 
up  to  the  end  of  1915. 

In  1908  1,357  vessels  brought  a  gross  tonnage  of  mer- 
chandise of  one  sort  or  another  to  the  Dairen  wharves  of 
1,829,921.  In  1914  the  number  of  ships  had  increased  to 
2,200  and  the  tonnage  of  their  cargoes  to  3,838,078.  The 
year  1915  saw  this  total  drop  by  over  three  hundred 
thousand  tons. 

One  table  gave  the  actual  number  of  tons  of  imports 
into   Manchuria,    through    the   port   of    Dairen,   /for   the 


THE    OPEN    DOOR  121 


previous  eight 

years,    from 

which 

I   took   the   following 

figures  : 

Europe,  U.S.A. 

Yeay.            Japan, 

Korea. 

China. 

and  elsewhere.           Total. 

1908    ...    214,551 

...    15.584   ... 

14,442 

...       92,350    ...     336,927 

1915    ...    240,685 

...    20,943    ... 

164,062 

•■•    111,535    •••    537,230 

The  exports  from  the  port  of  Dairen  rose  from  440,839 
tons  in  the  year  1908  to  1,732,806  tons  in  1915.  To  give 
an  idea  of  what  the  soya  bean  means  to  Manchuria  and 
the  Manchurian  farmer,  not  to  forget  the  Japanese,  who 
get  the  bulk  of  the  profit  out  of  the  business,  of  that 
1,732,806  tons  of  exports  mentioned,  there  were  290,959 
tons  of  beans,  77,893  tons  of  bean-oil,  and  no  less  than 
657,646  tons  of  bean-cake,  a  total  of  1,026,498  tons  of  mer- 
chandise that  passed  through  the  Dairen  docks  that  can 
be  charged  to  the  credit  of  the  soya  bean. 

"Now  you  have  seen  some  figures  to  show  you  what  we 
are  doing  here,"  said  Captain  Narasaki,  "let  me  tell  you 
what  I  personally  would  like  to  see.  I  would  like  to  see 
more  freight  come  to  Dairen  and  more  freight  go  away 
from  Dairen.  That  is  my  political  platform.  I  can  tell 
you  in  plain  English  that  there  are  plenty  of  others  inter- 
ested in  the  South  IManchurian  Railway  who  think  just  as 
I  do.  What  we  want  to  see  is  freight  for  the  South  Man- 
churian Railway.  We  do  not  care  from  what  part  of  the 
world  it  comes  or  where  it  is  going.  We  want  it  to  be 
shipped  over  our  lines.  If  there  were  a  single  thing  that  I 
could  do  personally  to  increase  British  or  American  im- 
ports coming  to  Dairen  I  would  do  it." 

"Well,  Captain,"  I  replied,  "I  am  prepared  to  admit 
that  the  ever-present  talk  about  Japanese  shippers  getting 
a  private  rebate  may  be  all  talk  and  have  no  real  foundation. 
I  have  looked  quite  sufficiently  into  the  question  of  the 
Chinese  Maritime  Customs  to  have  gained  a  very  firm 
opinion  that  goods  entering  the  port  of  Dairen  for  ship- 
ment up-country  pay  the  five  per  cent.  Chinese  Customs 
duty  no  matter  where  they  come  from.  There  may  be 
people  who  evade  that  duty,  but  it  is  not  evaded  as  a 
rule,  by  Japanese  or  anyone  else.  I  know  enough  about 
Manchuria  by  this  time,  too,  to  understand  that  no  live 
foreign  firm  pays  likin,  or  local  interior  tax,  to  the  Chinese 


122  THE    FAR   EAST  UNVEILED 

authorities,  for  the  good  and  sufficient  reason  that  the 
Japanese  will  not  pay  it,  and  no  sensible  man  will  do  so 
if  they  do  not.  I  know  that  you  have  a  reputation  per- 
sonally for  supplying  facilities  when  an  English  mer- 
chant wants  to  ship  goods,  and  supplying  such  facilities, 
apparently,  without  discrimination  as  to  nationality.  All 
along  those  lines  I  cannot  point  to  a  fact  that  would  go 
to  prove  that  the  Open  Door  of  equal  opportunity  in  Man- 
churia has  been  closed  by  Japan.  So  far  well  and  good. 
But  what  about  the  arrangement  whereby  certain  Japanese 
steamship  lines  can  ship  goods  from  Japan  to  Manchuria, 
here  to  Dairen,  and  have  them  sent,  by  the  South  Man- 
churian  Railway,  straight  through  to  their  destination  in 
interior  Manchuria  on  through  bills  of  lading  that  give 
the  Japanese  shipper  a  decided  and  undeniable  advantage 
over  his  European  competitor  ?  " 

"I  do  not  run  the  policy  of  the  South  Manchurian 
Company,"  answered  Captain  Narasa-lvi,  "and,  of  course,  I 
can  only  go  so  far  when  discussing  some  phases  of  it.  I 
know  that  the  N.Y.K.  and  the  O.S.K.  steamship  lines  have 
such  an  arrangement  with  us,  of  course.  That  arrange- 
ment may  or  may  not  be  permanent.  I  have  nothing  to 
do  with  that.  But  if  it  becomes  permanent  I  hope  to  get 
the  arrangement  extended  to  some  outside  foreign  firms. 
For  instance,  Butterfield  and  Swire  is  one  firm  to  which 
I  hope  it  will  be  extended.  To  show  you  how  I  intend  to 
deal  with  the  matter  if  this  through  bill  of  lading  business 
becomes  a  permanent  institution,  as  it  may  do,  I  have 
already  formed  a  department  which  I  am  getting  into  such 
shape  that  we  can  go  to  the  merchant  in  San  Francisco 
and  say  to  him  that  the  railway  will  undertake  to  load 
his  goods  for  Manchuria  in  San  Francisco,  land  them  at 
Dairen,  pay  all  duty,  ship  the  goods  to  Harbin,  say,  and 
land  them  there  at  the  door  of  the  consignee,  if  available, 
with  all  charges,  insurance  and  everything  else,  paid  by 
us.  That  is  my  plan.  Goods  from  Harbin  or  anywhere 
else  in  Manchuria  can  be  shipped  to  San  Francisco  or 
anywhere  else  in  the  world,  by  the  same  department,  when 
I  get  it  into  working  order. 

"Open  Door  in  Manchuria?  There  is  Open  Door 
enough  for  the  big,  live  firm  that  will  push  aside  close 
competition   and  shove  through.     It  takes  push,  for  the 


THE    OPEN    DOOR  123 

Japanese  have  many  natural  advantages,  geographical  and 
otherwise.  Japan  has  cheap  labour  and  subsidised  ship- 
ping to  help  the  Japanese  business  man,  who  is  satisfied 
with  less  profit  in  many  instances  than  his  foreign  com- 
petitor. But  if  the  foreigner  is  big  enough  and  will  spend 
enough  money  and  effort,  effort  in  the  right  direction,  he 
can  get  through  the  Open  Door  in  Manchuria.  Anyway, 
I  know  of  foreign  firms  that  are  getting  through,  and  bid 
fair  to  continue  to  do  so." 

One  thing  I  can  justly  say  of  Captain  Narasaki.  He 
held  opinions.  He  looked  at  the  Open  Door  question 
from  a  point  of  view  that  was  not  very  universal  among 
the  Japanese  residents  of  Manchuria,  but  his  opinion  did 
not  decrease  in  value  on  that  account,  for  no  man  in  all 
Manchuria  had  a  better  right  to  an  opinion  on  the  subject. 

And  more,  I  heard  opinions  from  men  in  Manchuria, 
who  thought  they  were  far  wiser,  who  were  far  wider  from 
the  mark. 


CHAPTER    XXVII 

CONCERNING  TREATY   OBLIGATIONS 

When  I  was  in  Manchuria,  I  spent  some  time  after  big 
game.  I  spent  many  days  stalking  the  Open  Door,  that 
most  interesting  of  prizes,  if  one  could  really  run  it  to 
earth. 

What  a  feather  in  my  cap  it  would  be,  thought  I,  if  I 
could  corner  it  and  obtain  such  irrefutable  evidence  of  its 
existence  that  I  could  put  to  naught  all  rumours  that  it 
was  a  myth,  or  that  it  had  become  extinct.  For  that  is  the 
view  persistently  held  by  a  very  large  section  of  the 
usually  rather  hard-headed  and  by  no  means  imaginative 
British  and  American  business  men  of  the  Far  East. 

Japan's  capture  of  the  railways  of  Manchuria  as  part 
of  her  spoils  of  the  Russo-Japanese  War,  the  establish- 
ment and  development  of  the  South  Manchurian  Railway, 
the  method  of  its  administration  of  the  railway  area  in 
Manchuria,  the  combination  of  land  and  water  transport 
under  the  subsidisation  by  the  Japanese  Government  that 
primarily  assisted  the  Japanese  manufacturer  and  mer- 
chant, the  low  price  of  labour  in  Japan,  its  proximity  to 
Manchuria,  and  all  kindred  questions  were,  I  found,''of 
little  interest  to  the  Occidental  business  man  in  the  Orient, 
compared  with  the  all-absorbing  topic,  the  Open  Door. 

For  Manchuria  is  not  Japan.  Neither  is  Manchuria  a 
Japanese  colony.  That  was  the  contention  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  business  man  in  the  East.  British  and  Americans 
might  be  antagonistic  on  some  counts,  and  were  so,  but 
they  met  on  common  ground  in  arguing  that  Manchuria 
is  still  a  part  of  China,  and  that  Japan,  whether  she  would 
or  no,  was  in  191 6  just  as  much  a  subscriber  to  the  Open 
Door  declaration  as  she  was  in  1899,  when  she,  in  common 
with  the  other  Powers,  accepted  it. 

That  I  might  know  what  I  was  talking  about,  I  first 
studied  just  what  is  meant,  in  plain  English,  by  the  Open 

124 


CONCERNING    TREATY    OBLIGATIONS   125 

Door.  In  all  treaties  between  China  and  Foreign  Powers 
there  is  what  is  called  the  Most  Favoured  Nation  Clause. 
That  is  the  foundation  of  the  Open  Door,  and  it  reads  as 
follows  : 

"It  is  expressly  stipulated  that  the  ....  Govern- 
ment and  its  subjects  will  be  allowed  free  and  equal 
participation  in  all  privileges,  immunities  and  advan- 
tages that  may  have  been,  or  may  be  hereafter,  granted 
by  His  Majesty  the  Emperor  of  China  to  the  Govern- 
ment or  subjects  of  any  other  nation." 

The  actual  Open  Door  declaration  came  in  1899.  In  a 
letter  written  by  Mr.  John  Hay,  then  American  Secretary 
of  State,  in  which  the  whole  Open  Door  policy  that  was 
afterwards  accepted  was  set  forth,  and  to  which  Japan  sub- 
scribed, the  following  clause  appeared  : 

"That  each  Power,  within  its  respective  sphere  of 
whatever  influence,  will  levy  no  higher  harbour  dues 
on  vessels  of  another  nationality  frequenting  any  port 
in  such  '  sphere  '  than  shall  be  levied  on  vessels  of  its 
own  nationality,  and  no  higher  railroad  charges  over 
lines  built,  controlled,  or  operated  within  its  'sphere' 
on  merchandise  belonging  to  citizens  or  subjects  of 
other  nationalities  transported  through  such  'sphere' 
than  shall  be  levied  on  similar  merchandise  belonging 
to  its  own  nationals  transported  over  equal  distances." 

In  the  agreement  signed  by  Russia  and  Japan  in  1907, 
Japan  declared  that  she  would 

"Agree  to  recognise  the  independence  and  terri- 
torial integrity  of  the  Chinese  Empire,  and  the  prin- 
ciple of  equal  opportunity  for  the  commerce  and 
industry  of  all  nations  in  the  said  Empire,  and  engage 
to  uphold  and  defend  the  maintenance  of  the  status 
quo  and  the  respect  of  that  principle  by  all  the  peace- 
ful means  possible  to  her." 

No  verbosity  there.  I  did  not  need  to  be  a  diplomat  to 
understand  that. 

When  on  July  13,  191 1,  Japan  signed  the  Anglo- 
Japanese  Alliance,  renewed  in  that  year,  she  pledged-t^cr- 


126  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

self  again  in  the  plainest  sort  of  English  to  "the  preserva- 
tion of  the  common  interests  of  all  the  Powers  in  China  by 
insuring  the  independence  and  integrity  of  the  Chinese 
Empire  and  the  principle  of  equal  opportunities  for  the 
commerce  and  industry  of  all  nations  in  China." 

To  pile  up  the  evidence  sufficiently  high  so  that  I  was 
not  likely  to  lose  sight  of  it  I  found,  finally,  that  Japan,  on 
November  30,  1908,  when  she  signed  an  agreement  with 
the  United  States  of  America,  declared  that  the  policy  of 
her  Government  in  regard  to  the  Pacific  Ocean  "unin- 
fluenced by  any  aggressive  tendencies,  is  directed  to  the 
maintenance  of  the  existing  status  quo  and  to  the  defence 
of  the  principle  of  equal  opportunity  for  commerce  and  in- 
dustry in  China."  More,  in  that  treaty,  Japan  declared  she 
was  "determined  to  preserve  the  common  interests  of  the 
Powers  in  China,  by  supporting  by  all  pacific  means  at 
her  disposal  the  independence  and  integrity  of  China  and 
the  principle  of  equal  opportunity  for  commerce  and  in- 
dustry of  all  nations  in  that  Empire." 

I  read  that  phrase  over  and  over  again,  for  a  reason. 
I  wanted  to  understand  clearly,  before  I  went  on  an  Open 
Door  hunt  in  Manchuria,  that  it  was  by  no  slip  of  the  pen 
that  Japan  tied  herself  to  the  Open  Door  policy.  She  did 
it  deliberately,  only  a  very  few  years  ago. 

I  brought  the  record  up  to  date  when  I  learned  that  on 
August  24,  1914,  Marquis  Okuma  sent  this  message  to  the 
American  people  through  the  medium  of  the  Independent: 

"As  Premier  of  Japan,  I  have  stated  and  I  now 
again  state  to  the  people  of  America,  and  of  the  world, 
that  Japan  has  no  ulterior  motive,  no  desire  to  secure 
more  territory,  no  thought  of  depriving  China  or  other 
peoples  of  anything  which  ihey  now  possess." 

So  I  started  on  my  quest  for  the  Open  Door  in  Man- 
churia with  the  full  knowledge  that  it  really  is  some  of  the 
business  of  all  nations  to  watch  what  is  transpiring  there. 

I  found  two  phases  of  the  development  of  Japan's  in- 
terests in  Southern  Manchuria  and  Eastern  Mongolia.  One 
was  the  business  phase.  The  other  had  to  do  with  what 
some  very  well-informed  folk  term  the  gradual  usurpation 
of  China's  sovereignty  in  Manchuria. 

I  obtained  sidelights  on  both  subjects  in  Manchuria.    I 


* 


CONCERNING    TREATY    OBLIGATIONS  127 

heard  the  opinions  of  the  men  in  that  part  of  the  world 
who  know  the  most  about  those  subjects. 

I  was  told  some  things  by  Dr.  Kunisawa,  the  Vice- 
President  of  the  South  Manchurian  Railway,  and  other 
railway  officials;  other  things  by  a  man  whom  I  will  des- 
ignate The  Englishman ;  still  other  things  by  someone  to 
whom  I  will  refer  as  The  American.  All  Englishmen  and 
Americans  in  Manchuria  have  to  live  and  do  business 
there,  so  I  will  mention  no  names.  Mr.  Ma  Ting  Liang, 
Special  Commissioner  for  Foreign  Affairs  for  the  Chinese 
Gibvernment  at  Mukden,  spoke  very  frankly  to  me.  I  had 
asked  General  Tuan  Chi  Jui,  when  talking  to  him  in 
Peking,  whom  he  could  suggest  that  I  should  see  and  talk 
to  in  ALinchuria  in  order  to  obtain  the  Chinese  point  of 
view,  on  the  spot  and  at  first  hand,  of  the  way  things  were 
going  in  that  part  of  the  world.  General  Tuan  suggested 
Mr.  Ma  Ting  Liang,  and  saw  that  I  was  given  a  card  of 
introduction  to  him. 

What  I  was  told  will  show,  as  I  saw  it,  how  Japan  is 
living  up  to  her  treaty  agreements  in  China,  so  far  as 
Manchuria  is  concerned. 


CHAPTER    XXVIII 

ON  TEMPORARY   DISCRIMINATION 

Dr.  S.  KuNiSAWA  has  had  much  to  do  with  the  South 
Manchurian  Railway  since  the  birth  of  that  institution. 

In  igo6,  before  the  Field  Railway  Department  of  the 
Japanese  Army  had  transferred  the  railway  to  the  newly- 
formed  company,  the  first  board  of  directors  was  appointed 
by  the  Japanese  Government.  Dr.  Kunisawa  was  a 
member  of  that  original  board.  The  Japanese  Government 
was  owner  of  half  the  shares  of  the  company.  The 
authorised  capital  of  the  company  was  200,000,000  yen. 
Consequently,  of  this  sum  the  Japanese  Government  owned 
100,000,000  yen  worth  of  shares,  on  the  basis  that 
100,000,000  yen  represented  the  total  appraised  value  of 
the  railways,  the  property  in  the  railway  area,  and  the 
coal  mines  of  Fushun  and  Yentai,  as  handed  over  to  the 
company  by  the  Japanese  Army  in  1907. 

It  was  understood  when  the  company  was  formed  that 
the  other  100,000,000  yen  worth  of  shares  might  be  sub- 
scribed by  the  Chinese  Government  and  Japanese  and 
Chinese  subjects  only.  It  is  stated  officially  that  when  the 
company  w^as  established  Japan  asked  China  if  it  had 
the  intention  of  subscribing  any  shares,  and  obtained  a 
reply  in  the  negative.  China  invest?  Not  likely!  China 
is  a  borrower,  not  an  investor.  Although  the  shareholders 
are  guaranteed  an  annual  dividend  of  6  per  cent.,  and  one 
year  were  paid  8  per  cent.,  no  Chinese  shareholder  existed 
in  1916. 

In  1908  the  President  of  the  South  Manchurian  Railway 
was  made  Minister  of  Communications  of  Japan,  the  former 
vice-president  was  made  president,  and  Dr.  Kunisawa, 
who  was  senior  director,  was  made  vice-president  in  turn. 
He  held  that  position  for  eight  years  and  subsequently 
became  the  president  of  the  road. 

I  went  to  Manchuria  armed  with  many  letters  of  intro- 

128 


ON   TEMPORARY    DISCRIMINATION     129 

duction.  Among  them  was  a  letter  from  Japan's  veteran 
banker,  Baron  Shibusawa,  to  the  then  President  of  the 
South  Manchurian  Railway,  Baron  Nakamura,  who  was 
absent  in  Tokyo,  conferring  with  Count  Terauchi,  when  I 
reached  Dairen.  Consequently  I  fell  into  the  kindly 
hands  of  Dr.  Kunisawa. 

The  doctor  is  clean  shaven.  His  face  bears  the  stamp 
of  capability  but  is  likely  to  become  set  in  a  sort  of 
Oriental  impassiveness  that  might  be  described  as  wooden- 
ness.  He  spoke  English  rather  haltingly,  but  understood 
it  well.  He  greeted  me  cordially,  but  was  evidently  unused 
to  have  straight-from-the-shoulder  questions  as  to  the 
policy  of  the  railway  fired  point-blank  at  him,  and  was 
naturally  imbued  with  the  idea  that  he  had  best  be  very 
careful  what  he  said  in  reply.  He  was  not  secretive  or 
unwilling  to  discuss  the  questions  I  put,  however,  and 
was  most  obliging  in  placing  a  good  share  of  a  busy 
morning  at  my  disposal. 

The  S.M.R.  Company  maintains  a  newspaper  in 
Dairen.  It  is  the  only  paper  printed  in  English  in  Man- 
churia. This  sheet  bears  the  title,  The  Manchuria  Daily 
News.  The  issue  of  it  which  appeared  the  evening  prior 
to  my  call  on  Dr.  Kunisawa  had  devoted  a  couple  of 
columns  to  the  railway  fight  that  was  taking  place  at  the 
time  in  Tokyo.  Count  Terauchi  was  being  bombarded 
by  two  railway  parties.  On  one  hand  was  the  director 
of  the  Transportation  Department  of  the  Japanese  Imperial 
Railways,  Mr.  Kinoshita.  Allied  to  him  was  Dr.  Ohya, 
director  of  the  Chosen  (Korea)  Railway,  which  is  a 
Japanese  governmental  concern.  Fighting  them  fiercely 
was  Baron  Nakamura  of  the  South  Manchurian  Railway. 

The  row  in  Tokyo  was  about  freight  rates.  I  had  come 
to  Manchuria  to  look  into  the  Open  Door  question,  and 
a  dozen  people  of  good  business  standing  had  sworn  to 
me  that  they  knew  that  the  Japanese  business  man  was 
specially  favoured  by  secret  rates  and  rebates  in  such 
manner  as  to  make  it  practicallv  impossible  for  the 
Pluropean  firm  to  compete  with  the  Japanese  firm  in  Man- 
churia. I  heard  this  on  every  side,  but  all  admitted  that 
to  get  concrete  evidence  of  such  things  was,  or  had  proved 
to  be  thus  far,  impossible. 

If  the  Chosen  Railway,  owned  by  the  Japanese  Govern- 
J 


130  THE    FAR    EAST   UNVEILED 

ment,  and  the  South  Manchurian  Railway,  half-owned  by 
the  Government  but  also  half-owned  by  private  capital, 
fell  out  over  questions  wherein  they  were  competitors  for 
the  handling  of  freight  from  Japan,  bound  for  interior 
Manchuria  and  beyond,  thought  I,  the  details  of  the  row 
should  tell  one  something  generally  of  the  freight  situation. 

Therefore,  tfbfore  I  called  on  Dr.  Kunisawa,  I  "read 
up  "  on  the  subject  in  the  files  of  the  South  Manchurian 
Railway's  paper.  If  I  found  nothing  of  direct  interest, 
I  was  sure  to  find  some  matter  that  would  suggest  interest- 
ing questions  which  I  could  put  to  the  doctor. 

I  found  that  a  cursory  knowledge  of  English  on  the 
part  of  the  editor  made  my  researches  more  entertaining 
than  instructive.  So  I  conceived  the  idea  of  asking  Dr. 
Kunisawa  to  explain  in  detail  the  somewhat  hectic  and 
rambling  statements  of  his  official  news  organ. 

I  am  afraid  that  Dr.  Kunisawa  did  not  like  the  job, 
for  it  was  a  job,  and  a  big  one.  He  laboured  manfully 
with  it,  however,  and  laid  the  following  foundation.  The 
South  Manchurian  Railway  had  spent  a  large  amount  of 
money  on  the  harbour,  docks,  and  town  of  Dairen.  It  had 
seemed  the  natural  avenue  for  goods  which  were  to  be 
shipped  from  Japan  to  such  places,  say,  as  Mukden,  which 
is  in  central  Manchuria,  well  away  from  the  coast.  At  first 
Dairen's  only  rival  was  Newchwang,  or  Yingkou,  as  the 
Japanese  have  renamed  it.  That  rival  was  easy  to  handle. 
Goods  from  that  port  had  to  be  shipped  over  the  South 
Manchurian  Railway's  branch  line.  Then  came  the  con- 
struction of  the  new  line  from  Mukden  to  Antung,  a  town 
on  the  eastern  border  of  Manchuria,  which  was  the  terminus 
of  the  Chosen  Railway  and  had  a  port  of  its  own. 

The  distance  from  Dairen  to  Mukden  is  just  under 
250  miles,  from  Antung  to  Mukden  170  miles,  and  from 
Yingkou  or  Newchwang  to  Mukden  in  miles.  To  make 
sure  that  Dairen  would  get.  its  fair  share  of  the  freight 
traffic  from  Japan  to  Mukden,  the  South  Manchurian  Rail- 
way, with  the  help  of  General  Baron  Fukushima,  then 
Governor-General  of  Kuantung  (Japan's  leased  territory 
in  Manchuria,  in  which  district  Dairen  lies),  managed  in 
the  spring  of  1914  to  pulf  off  an  arrangement  whereby 
the  freight  rates  per  ton  over  the  South  Manchurian  Rail- 
way's lines  would  be  the  same  from  Dairen  to  Mukden, 


ON   TEMPORARY   DISCRIMINATION      131 

Antung  to  Mukden,  and  Yingkou  to  Mukden.  This 
meant  that  freight  paid  an  agreed  rate  per  ton  without 
mileage  being  taken  into  account.  It  obviously  and 
frankly  protected  Dairen  as  a  port  from  the  competition 
of  Antung  or  Yingkou. 

This  arrangement  was  made  for  a  period  of  one  year. 
When  that  year  was  up  the  arrangement  was  extended  for 
another  year,  on  the  argument  that  the  European  War 
was  on,  and  that  therefrom  new  conditions  had  arisen  in 
Kiaochou.  The  further  renewal,  for  a  third  year,  of  this 
agreement  was  the  moot  point  under  discussion  at  the 
Tokyo  conference. 

So  far,  so  good.  If  the  South  Manchurian  Railway 
charged  the  same  rates  to  the  Japanese  and  to  the  Ameri- 
can and  to  the  Englishman  who  wanted  to  ship  goods 
from  Dairen,  Antung,  or  Yingkou  to  Mukden,  the  ques- 
tion of  whether  shippers  were  charged  by  mileage  or  by 
special  rate  was  not  so  important. 

The  Chosen  Railway,  backed  by  the  Japanese  Govern- 
ment railways,  fought  this  set  rate  agreement.  The  Chosen 
Raihvay  wanted  more  goods  shipped  from  Japan  over  its 
lines  and  then  on  via  Antung  to  Mukden.  That  w'as  the 
bone  of  contention  in  Tokyo. 

This  effort  to  abolish  the  set  rate  scheme  the  Manchuria 
Daily  News  called  "a  deep  conspiracy  against  the  Dairen 
centralisation  policy."  The  editor  was  not  complimentary 
to  the  Chosen  crowed.  "We  know,"  he  w-rote,  "w^hat  sort 
of  worthies  we  are  dealing  with.  Our  past  experiences 
warn  us  that  they  will  be  capable  of  anything." 

The  editor,  deeply  concerned  in  the  political  fight  and 
fearing  that  defeat  at  Tokyo  might  result  in  wholesale 
resignations  which  would  only  play  into  the  hands  of  the 
enemy,  said,  "The  South  Manchurian  Railway  Company, 
charged  with  the  glorious  mission  to  be  the  central  lever 
of  the  activities  in  Manchuria  and  Mongolia,"  should  not 
be  converted  into  a  political  prize.  "The  nucleus  of  the 
company's  capital  is  neither  gold  nor  silver,"  he  continued, 
"but  the  ruddy  flood  of  the  slain  and  maimed  heroes." 
He  spoke  of  "the  company's  glorious  mission,  the  brave 
dead  and  maimed  who  paid  the  price  of  the  company  in 
their  blood,"  and  more  along  the  same  line. 

And  among  all  this  was  the  following  :  "The  Imperial 


132  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

Government  railways  proposed,  in  return  for  the  with- 
drawal of  the  mileage  proportion  proposition,  to  get  both 
the  15  per  cent,  reduced  rates  on  the  local  specific  goods 
and  the  30  per  cent,  reduction  on  the  through  specific 
goods  on  the  Dairen  route  discontinued.  Needless  to  add, 
such  a  preposterous  proposition  met  an  adamantine  front 
on  the  part  of  both  Baron  Nakamura  and  the  civil 
governor  of  Kuantung." 

That  took  some  explaining.  What  were  these  reduc- 
tions ?    To  whom  were  they  given  ? 

I  said  to  Dr.  Kunisawa,  "I  have  come  to  Manchuria 
to  look  through  the  Open  Door.  Many  foreign  business 
men  in  the  East  tell  me  that  it  is  closed  in  Manchuria  and 
that  Japan  has  closed  it.  They  tell  me,  too,  that  rebates 
and  special  privileges  are  given  by  your  railway  to 
Japanese  shippers." 

"Not  a  word  of  that  is  true,"  was  the  decided  answer. 
"The  South  Manchurian  Railway  gives  no  rebates  and 
shows  no  discrimination." 

But  Dr.  Kunisawa  thought  his  English  insufficient  to 
explain  that  special  percentage  proposition.  He  called  in 
another  Japanese  gentleman,  who  spoke  more  English. 
I  did  not  know  the  gentleman  was  the  editor  of  the  Daily 
News.  Had  I  known  I  would  not  have  told  hiiji  that  I 
could  not  make  head  or  tail  of  his  article  on  the  subject 
under  discussion.  He  was  touchy  regarding  the  intel- 
ligibility of  his  leading  articles. 

"It  would  take  three  or  four  days  to  explain  this  matter 
of  special  rates,"  he  said,  dismissing  the  whole  thing  with 
a  wave  of  his  hand. 

"Not  to  me,"  I  replied  flatly.  "Not  if  someone  who 
spoke  English  tried  to  make  me  understand." 

There  and  then  I  put  some  straight  questions.  The  net 
result  of  the  replies  was  the  admission  that  the  annual 
agreement  concerning  through  freight  rates  gave  a  direct 
and  undeniable  advantage  in  freight  charges  (a)  to  Japanese 
who  shipped  goods  from  Japan  by  the  Nippon  Yusen 
Kaisha  or  Osaka  Shosen  Kaisha,  Japan's  two  largest 
steamship  lines,  and  (h)  to  Japanese  manufacturers  of  or 
dealers  in  the  following  goods  :  cotton  piece  goods,  cotton 
yarn,  cotton  hosiery  and  shirts,  caps  and  hats,  china  and 
porcelain  of  the  coarser  type,  lamps  for  burning  paraffin, 


I 


ON    TEMPORARY    DISCRIMINATION      133 

beer,  dried  seaweed  (for  food),  salt  and  dried  fish,  rice, 
and  certain  fruits,  including  oranges,  apples,  peaches,  and 
grapes. 

After  that  admission  we  had  an  argument.  We  did  not 
agree.  I  claimed  that  Japan,  through  the  South  iMan- 
churian  Railway,  was  practising  rank  discrimination  in 
favour  of  Japanese  shippers,  and  that  such  action  was 
in  direct  contravention  of  treaty  agreements.  .  I  am  afraid 
that  the  editor  and  I  would  disagree  on  more  than  one 
subject. 

"I  have  repeatedly  told  you,"  he  said,  "that  the  rebates 
are  a  temporary  arrangement." 

"Discrimination  that  is  temporary  is  no  less  discrimina- 
tion," was  my  reply.  "Call  it  temporary  discrimination, 
if  you  like." 

Neither  of  us  cared  for  a  riper  acquaintance. 

The  Manchuria  Daily  News  the  following  day  was 
just  as  characteristically  Japanese  as  it  was  possible  for  it 
to  be,  in  English.  As  the  editor  well  knew  that  I  held 
very  strong  opinions  against  his  views  and  those  of  his 
company  and  Government,  he  blandly  stated  in  his  paper 
that  I  had  appeared  to  be  satisfied  when  informed  that 
the  discrimination  in  favour  of  the  Japanese  was  but  the 
fruit  of  a  temporary  measure,  subject  to  annual  renewal, 
and  at  the  time  under  discussion  in  Tokyo. 

Curiously,  immediately  following  the  article  declaring 
that  my  satisfaction  was  due  to  the  fact  that  the  whole 
scheme  might  be  knocked  into  a  cocked  hat  in  Tokyo,  was 
a  paragraph  under  the  heading,  "Happy  Solution 
Reached,"  stating  that  the  Tokyo  conference  had  ended 
by  the  mileage  proportion  proposition  being  withdrawn, 
that  the  existing  through  "specific"  freights  (allowing 
special  freight  rates  to  the  shippers  of  the  eleven  groups 
of  articles  given  in  the  list  I  quoted  above)  were  to  be 
retained  "for  the  time  being,"  and  finally  that  "in  addi- 
tion, a  special  tariff,  amounting  to  about  30  per  cent, 
reduction,  is  to  be  established  over  the  AIukden-Antung 
line  for  twenty-one  articles,  including  hardware  exported 
from  Japan,  and  bone  dust,  hides  and  skins,  and  cereals, 
(including  beans  and  bean-cake),  for  import  to  certain 
specified  districts  in  Japan." 

The  quarrel  as  to  whether  certain  shippers  should  be 


134  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

given  certain  privileges  over  the  South  Manchurian  Rail- 
way was  settled  by  an  agreement  to  let  such  privileges 
remain,  while  certain  other  privileges  were  given  to  cer- 
tain other  shippers  over  the  Chosen  Railway. 

Three  other  paragraphs  from  the  Manchuria  Daily 
News  of  those  days  interested  me  more  than  a  little. 

This  was  the  first: — "Neither  the  Imperial  Railways 
nor  the  Chosen  Railway  has  seemed  to  have  ever  thought 
of  the  via  Yingkou  route,  in  which  foreign  merchants  are 
interested  most,  who  will  certainly  not  stand  by  and  look 
on  idly  if  the  same  mileage  proportion  principle  should 
not  apply  also  to  the  Yingkou  section,  the  same  as  the 
Dairen-Mukden  section." 

Equal  opportunity  was  what  Japan  solemnly  promised. 

This  is  number  two: — "What  if  some  American  or 
British  or  some  other  foreign  shipping  firm  should  apply 
for  a  similar  privilege  to  what  is  now  enjoyed  by  the 
Nippon  Yusen  Kaisha  and  the  Osaka  Shosen  Kaisha?  " 
I  might  mention  in  passing  that  I  told  Dr.  Kunisawa,  in 
the  editor's  presence,  that  I  thought  the  foreign  shipping 
houses  were  mad  to  let  Japan  so  favour  its  own  steamship 
lines  without  strenuous  protests,  backed  by  their  govern- 
ments. Dr.  Kunisawa  nodded  his  head  thoughtfully,  but 
made  no  comment  in  reply. 

Third  and  last  this  effusion  : — "There  is  no  use 
mincing  matters  when  we  are  acting  in  South  Manchuria 
before  the  eyes  of  the  world,  who  must  be  closely  watch- 
ing if  Japan  stands  true  to  her  declaration  of  the  '  open 
door  and  equal  opportunity.*  The  question  must  needs 
be  faced  squarely,  unless  it  should  please  the  Terauchi 
Ministry  to  act  against  Japan's  declaration  above  men- 
tioned." 

I  was  glad  that  I  had  carefully  studied  all  Japan's 
pledges  to  the  Powers. 

Has  Japan  kept  her  pledges? 

I  am  afraid  that  the  most  charitable  of  us  would  be 
compelled  to  answer,  "Well,  not  exactly." 


CHAPTER    XXIX 

THE  TRUTH  ABOUT  THE  GERMAN  IN  MANCHURIA 

"So  many  people  have  spoken  of  you  as  the  premier 
authority  on  affairs  Manchurian,"  I  said  to  The  English- 
man, "that  I  want  to  ask  you  a  host  of  questions." 

"Fire  away,"  was  the  genial  reply,  "and  I  will  gladly 
enlighten  you  on  any  points  on  which  I  happen  to  have 
any  knowledge  or  experience." 

He  stretched  out  his  long  thin  frame  as  if  settling  him- 
self for  a  siege  of  interrogation,  set  his  finely  chiselled 
lips  firmly  over  his  pipe  and  fixed  his  keen  grey  eyes  on 
me  quizzically. 

"I  warn  you,"  he  said,  "many  of  my  friends  call  me 
pro-Japanese  at  times,  because  I  try  to  be  fair  and  im- 
partial. I  have  known  the  Japanese  for  many,  many 
years,  and  have  not  a  few  friends  among  them.  I  am 
perfectly  candid  with  them,  though,  and  I  will  be  equally 
candid  about  them  to  you.  You  say  that  you  want  my 
opinion  of  what  the  Japanese  are  doing  in  IManchuria,  with 
particular  reference  to  keeping  the  Open  Door." 

"Yes,"  I  said,  "I  want  you  to  tell  me  something  of 
your  experiences  of  doing  business  in  IManchuria  under 
the  Japanese  regime.  I  remember  you  here  in  the  old  days 
when  the  Russians  were  in  Manchuria.  You  were  very 
critical  in  those  days  of  the  way  the  Russians  looked  upon 
Manchuria  and  the  way  they  treated  the  Chinese.  You 
were  the  only  man  I  met  up  here  who  prophesied  exactly 
what  the  years  would  bring,  so  far  as  I  can  see  from  an 
external  viewpoint.  Now  I  would  like  to  get  a  bit  under 
the  skin  of  surface  things.  What  is  the  real  Japanese 
attitude  toward  what  we  consider  the  Open  Door  ?  " 

"First  of  all,"  replied  The  Englishman,  "remember 
this.  The  Japanese  idea  of  the  Open  Door  is  different 
from  yours  and  mine.  You  will  not  run  across  one 
Japanese  in  a  thousand  who  looks  at  the  subject  as  we 

135 


136  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

do.  Many  Japanese  think  that  so  long  as  Japan  does  not 
actually  shut  out  foreign  goods  from  Manchuria  the  door 
is  open. 

"It  is  just  that  fundamental  difference  in  point  of  view 
that  makes  the  subject  a  difficult  one  to  discuss  with  the 
Japanese.  The  South  Manchurian  Railway,  whose  policy 
in  Manchuria  may  be  taken  to  be  the  Japanese  policy  in 
Manchuria  on  most  counts,  always  plays  the  game  with 
me  personally.  Some  other  Japanese  business  men  do  so. 
But  after  all  these  years  I  am  bound  to  admit  I  do  not 
place  much  dependence  on  the  Japanese  word.  I  cannot 
do  so." 

"One  of  your  colleagues,  who  directs  one  of  the  biggest 
businesses  in  the  East,"  I  commented,  "told  me  last  night 
that  he  would  not  think  of  trusting  a  Japanese  business 
man.  He  gave  me  instance  after  instance  of  having  done 
so  to  his  cost." 

"So  can  I,"  said  The  Englishman.  "  I  know  an  English 
business  man  here  in  Manchuria  who  has  had  a  typical 
instance  of  that  only  this  week.  He  arranged  a  deal  be- 
tween a  Japanese  firm  and  London.  Goods  were  sold  to 
London  on  an  express  agreement,  the  factors  of  amount 
of  goods  to  be  shipped,  price,  and  the  date  of  delivery 
being  of  equal  importance.  He  engaged  that  the  Japanese 
firm  should  get  shipping  space,  which  it  did.  Insurance 
was  arranged,  the  money  was  sent  out  from  London,  and 
all  was  in  order.  When  the  ship  arrived  at  Dairen  the 
Japanese  firm  found  it  more  profitable  to  dispose  of  the 
space  it  had  reserved  than  to  ship  the  goods.  It  there- 
fore cold-bloodedly  disposed  of  the  space,  breaking  its 
agreement  without  the  flicker  of  an  eyelash.  A  promise 
on  the  part  of  99  per  cent,  of  the  Japanese  business  houses 
is  only  a  promise  so  long  as  it  suits  them  to  keep  it. 

"The  Japanese  firms  display  a  remarkable  lack  of  busi- 
ness methods.  I  was  in  a  certain  bank  not  long  ago,  when 
a  conversation  took  place  in  front  of  me  that  was  amazing. 
A  Japanese  firm  had  left  securities  for  1,000,000  yen  in 
gold  without  taking  a  sign  of  a  receipt.  The  firm  had 
subsequently  drawn  against  it  by  notes,  which  the  bank 
manager  was  insisting  thnt  the  drawers  should  see  can- 
celled. He  had  almost  to  force  attention  of  the  matter 
upon  them.     That  people  with  no  idea  or  conception  of 


THE    GERMAN    IN    MANCHURIA         137 

commercial  honesty  as  we  look  upon  it  should  be  so  con- 
fident of  the  integrity  of  others  is  odd,  but  it  is  solely 
due  to  inefficiency.  No  man  who  has  dealt  long  wiili 
Jcipanese  concerns  fails  to  remark  upon  the  continual  in- 
accuracies in  business  dealings  that  are  habitual  with  the 
Japanese. 

"The  Japanese  habit  of  filching  foreign  trade-marks  and 
imitating  foreign  goods  down  to  the  very  labels  and  names 
of  foreign  makers  is  so  universal  that  we  have  almost 
ceased  to  remark  about  it.  Lead  pencils  that  are  found  to 
have  lead  in  the  ends  of  the  pencil  and  paper  in  the  middle, 
cases  on  cases  of  goods  with  a  top  layer  of  articles  to 
sample  and  a  bottom  layer  of  another  quality  are  so 
common  as  to  surprise  no  one." 

I  interrupted  The  Englishman  to  tell  him  a  choice  bit 
along  that  line  that  had  come  to  my  notice  in  China.  A 
young  American  from  far  Shansi  told  it  to  me.  The 
Standard  Oil  Company  sells  lamps  in  Shansi.  The  lamps 
are  not  sold  so  much  for  profit  as  to  introduce  the  use  of 
oils  to  the  Chinese.  The  Standard  Company  sees  that  the 
lamps  are  good  ones  and  sells  them  at  a  low  price.  The 
Japanese  sell  lamps  as  well.  That  would  seem  to  play  into 
the  hands  of  the  Standard,  for  the  more  lamps  sold,  the 
more  oil  burned.  But  the  Japanese  lamps  are  cheaply 
made  and  badly  constructed.  The  air  space  is  insufficient, 
causing  bad  combination  and  now  and  then  an  explosion. 
The  Japanese  lamps  are  made  to  imitate  the  Standard 
lamps  in  appearance.  When  I  asked  the  young  American 
how  he  could  tell  the  imitation  from  the  real,  he  said  : 
"Oh,  that  is  simple.  I  merely  turn  the  lamp  bottom  up. 
The  Japanese  makers  stamp  plainly  on  the  bottom  piece  of 
the  lamp  the  words,  '  Made  by  the  Standard  Oil  Company 
of  America.'  As  the  Standard  Oil  Company  never  puts  its 
name  on  lamps,  that  shows  at  once  which  is  the  Japanese 
article." 

"Now  that  I  have  told  you  my  opinion  of  the  Japanese 
business  man  in  the  abstract,"  The  Englishman  went  on, 
"I  want  to  say  frankly  that  I  think  that  a  lot  of  what  the 
foreign  business  man  says  about  the  action  of  the  South 
Manchurian  Railway  is  incorrect.  Everyone  out  here  will 
tell  you  of  secret  rebates.  I  do  not  think  that  they  exist. 
Through  shipping  rales  from  Japan  by  the  Nippon  Yusen 


138  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

Kaisha  and  Osaka  Shosen  Kaisha  lines,  through  Dalny, 
or  Dairen  as  we  call  it  now,  and  into  interior  Manchuria 
by  the  South  Manchurian  Railway  do  exist  and  do  favour 
the  Japanese  shipper.  Some  Japanese  argue  that  these 
rates  are  all  public  property  and  that  they  are  legitimate. 
They  are  not  legitimate. 

"But  Japan  is  too  clever,  in  my  idea,  to  institute  any 
secret  system  of  rebates.  Competition  in  Japan  is  too  keen, 
and  there  is  too  much  commercial  jealousy  among  the 
Japanese.  Many  people  remark  about  the  patriotism  of 
the  Japanese  merchant.  He  is  patriotic  because  it  pays 
him  to  be.  His  Government  believes  in  subsidising  him  in 
every  way.  It  is  most  paternal  toward  him.  But  let  it 
hurt  him  instead  of  help  him,  let  it  foster  his  Japanese 
competitor  to  his  damage,  and  hear  the  howl  that  goes  up. 
A  secret  rebate  system  would  cause  more  trouble  to  Japan 
than  it  would  be  worth.  Besides,  there  are  fewer  secrets 
in  Japan  than  you  would  think.    It  keeps  its  secrets  badly. 

"There  is  an  Open  Door  in  Manchuria  for  the  man 
whose  firm  is  big  enough  to  buck  the  Japanese  firms  and 
the  Japanese  Government  as  well.  That  is  the  way  to  look 
at  it.  I,  for  one,  think  that  the  situation  is  by  no  means 
hopeless.  We  Englishmen  want  our  Government  behind 
us  to  see  that  we  get  fair  play.  Further,  we  want  the 
British  manufacturer  behind  us. 

"What  is  going  to  happen  in  Manchuria  after  the  war 
is  over?  A  mighty  commercial  war.  Do  you  realise  that 
we  Englishmen  have  a  bigger  problem  in  front  of  us  to 
beat  the  German  in  Manchuria  than  the  problem  of  beat- 
ing the  Japanese? 

"Along  certain  lines,  Japanese  competition  cannot  be 
beaten.  Conditions  that  have  no  connection  with  the  Open 
Door  account  for  that  fact.  Along  other  lines  the  Japanese 
should  have  no  chance  against  us,  if  we  play  our  cards 
properly.  The  universally  bad  business  methods  and  prac- 
tices of  the  Japanese,  and  the  fact  that  a  Western  organisa- 
tion is  almost  universally  inherently  better  than  Japanese 
organisation,  is  a  great  help  to  us.  The  Japanese  mind, 
the  Japanese  brain,  has  not  developed  to  the  extent  that 
people  imagine.  There  are  very  few  clever  Japanese 
business  men,  comparatively.  There  are  extraordinarily 
few    clever    thinkers    among    the    Japanese    commercial 


THE    GERMAN    IN    MANCHURIA         139 

element.  Man  for  man,  they  are  no  match  for  the 
Westerner. 

"  But  the  German  was  the  man  who,  before  the  war,  was 
making  the  greatest  headway  in  Manchuria.  We  English- 
men want  the  trade  in  Manchuria  that  Germany  wanted, 
that  Germany  wants  still.  How  are  we  to  get  it?  As 
regards  goods  imported  from  England,  by  a  different  atti- 
tude on  the  part  of  the  British  manufacturer  and  the  British 
Government.  That  is  the  first  step.  What  English  firm 
in  Manchuria  has  not  sent  home  samples  of  German  goods, 
only  to  have  a  set  of  excuses  fired  back  at  him  instead  of 
merchandise  ?  '  The  class  of  goods  is  below  our  standard.' 
'We  are  busy  with  our  regular  lines.'  'The  required 
goods  seem  to  us  to  be  a  very  uncertain  novelty.'  That  is 
what  we  get,  instead  of  goods  to  sell.  What  is  the  result  ? 
The  English  business  man  had  to  take  the  goods  from 
Germany  or  see  the  orders  go  to  his  German  competitor  in 
Manchuria.  One  in  business  in  Manchuria  must  sell  what 
his  buyer  wants,  you  know. 

"When  the  British  manufacturer  wakes  up  to  the  neces- 
sity of  turning  out  goods  of  the  same  appearance,  quality 
and  price  as  the  goods  of  his  German  competitors  :  when 
he  realises  that  time  is  the  essence  of  most  of  the  contracts 
out  here,  when  he  know^s  that  Germany  has  heretofore  had 
better  facilities  for  getting  goods  here  promptly  and  that 
such  conditions  must  not  again  obtain  if  we  are  to  win 
the  trade  war  out  here  :  when  cash  payments  in  London 
against  documents  in  London  through  a  commission 
house  that  expects  a  2  per  cent,  to  3  per  cent.,  commission, 
if  not  more,  gives  way  to  a  custom  of  drawing  under  an 
ordinary  letter  of  credit :  when  British  banks  cease  to 
finance  German  trade  in  Manchuria  :  when,  in  short,  we 
British  folk  at  home  and  abroad  wake  up  to  actual  condi- 
tions and  pull  hard  together  to  win,  we  will  win,  not 
only  against  the  Japanese  in  Manchuria,  but  against  the 
far  cleverer  commercial  enemy,  the  German. 

"As  to  exports  from  Manchuria,  if  the  British  firms 
do  not  trade  with  Germany  after  the  war,  most  of  their 
business  will  be  wiped  out.  Firms  that  deal  in  seeds  send 
most  of  their  shipments  to  Germany.  Many  houses  out 
here  would  almost  have  to  go  out  of  business  if  the  German 
market   were   closed   to   them.      For   that   matter,    if   the 


140  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

British  houses  refuse  to  handle  certain  imported  German 
goods  it  does  not  mean  they  will  not  sell  here.  The 
Japanese  are  keen  to  get  them,  and  in  one  or  two 
lines,  just  as  with  certain  lines  of  Japanese  goods,  the 
Germans  cannot  be  beaten. 

"That  only  refers  to  the  exceptions,  however.  In  a 
broad  sense  let  the  British  manufacturer  and  the  British 
Government  see  that  we  have  a  sound,  sensible  class  of 
business  attention  and  a  fair  show,  let  them  see  that  we 
have  attention  paid,  too,  to  our  reports  as  to  the  trend  of 
things  out  here,  and  we  will  look  out  for  the  Open  Door. 
It  may  be  open  only  a  little  way.  Japanese  may  be  the 
only  ones  intended  to  squeeze  through.  But  just  let  us 
put  our  broad  shoulders  to  it.  Let  us  push  together. 
We  can  push  it  open  far  enough,  never  fear. 

"Some  say  that  the  door  is  open,  but  a  Japanese  sentry 
is  standing  just  inside,  with  a  rifle  in  his  hands.  I,  for 
one,  do  not  care  if  there  is  a  whole  regiment  of  Japanese 
sentries  just  inside,  with  rifles  loaded  and  bayonets  fixed, 
if  I  have  the  British  Government  back  of  me.  I  am  not 
planning  anything  that  should  get  me  into  conflict  with 
any  Japanese  sentries.  If  I  go  about  my  business  pro- 
perly they  will  not  bother  me  with  impunity,  always  with 
the  proviso  that  I  have  my  Government  behind  me. 

"Open  Door?  Great  Scott!  It  is  open  enough  for  a 
man  who  is  hard  to  keep  out  of  a  place  into  which  he  has 
a  perfect  right  to  enter.  If  we  are  all  going  to  lie  down, 
we  may  find  it  closing.  The  way  to  keep  it  open  is  to 
see  that  our  right  of  way  is  exercised  sufficiently  often  so 
that  the  weeds  are  not  allowed  to  come  up  and  choke  it." 

I  ordered  a  drink. 

I  had  heard  the  truth.  I  had  been  sufficiently  long  in 
Manchuria,  had  seen  enough,  had  heard  enough,  to  know 
that. 


CHAPTER    XXX 

THE   MAN  TO   WHOM   THE   DOOR  IS   CLOSED 

The  American  was  a  taciturn  sort  of  cliap.  He  knew  a 
lot  about  Manchuria.  He  should  have  done.  He  had 
been  there  long  enough.  He  said  at  first  that  he  did  not 
see  much  use  in  talking  about  conditions  in  Manchuria. 

Perhaps  that  was  because  there  were  so  few  of  him 
in  Manchuria.  In  Dairen,  for  instance,  there  were  only 
two  Americans — the  American  Consul  and  the  Secretary 
of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association.  In  Mukden 
the  Americans  were  mostly  young  men,  very  young  men, 
who  were  with  the  British  American  Tobacco  Company. 
There  was  a  very  astute  American  Consul-General  in 
Mukden,  but  he,  too,  Wc'jis  comparatively  a  new-comer. 

The  American  was  a  real  old-timer.  When  he  said  a 
thing  he  said  it  dogmatically.  He  was  not  given  to  ex- 
pressing opinions,  he  merely  stated  facts.  Years  had 
passed  since  I  had  seen  him  and  he  had  not  changed  in 
their  passing. 

"Yes,"  he  said.  "I  guess  I  am  a  sort  of  fixture  out 
here.  I  have  been  here  a  long  time.  Much  has  happened 
since  I  came  to  the  East." 

First  he  talked  of  an  interesting  fight  between  the 
Japanese  and  Chinese  troops  in  the  war  of  1894,  of  which 
he  had  been  a  spectator.  It  took  place  not  far  from 
Newchwang.  The  Chinese  formed  in  a  solid  front,  with- 
out the  slightest  thought  of  what  might  happen  to  their 
flanks.  The  Japanese  divided  into  two  lots  and  attacked 
from  each  side,  an  unheard  of  manoeuvre  to  the  Chinese, 
who  had  confidently  awaited  the  frontal  attack,  the  only 
strategy  they  knew.  The  details  of  the  result  were  some- 
what gruesome. 

The  American  then  shifted  the  ground  to  Formosa  and 
was  most  informative  of  what  happened  there  in  1905. 
His  description  of  the  valiant  revolutionary  leader,   who 

141 


142  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

had  threatened  to  sweep  the  Japanese  into  the  sea,  only 
to  ship  as  a  stoker  on  a  small  coasting  steamer  and  make 
good  his  escape  to  China,  none  aboard  being  aware  of 
his  identity,  before  the  Japanese  forces  had  come  within 
gunshot,  was  most  entertaining.  For  a  man  customarily 
taciturn  he  was  decidedly  voluble  concerning  past  history. 
I  decided  to  pull  him  up  and  get  him  closer  to  the  times 
we  live  in. 

"Have  you  ever  run  across  any  proof  that  the  South 
Manchurian  Railway  gives  secret  rebates  to  Japanese 
shippers?  "  I  asked. 

"No,"  The  American  answered  shortly. 

"  Have  you  ever  looked  for  such  proof  ?  " 

"Yes,  for  ten  years." 

"  Do  you  think  any  such  rebates  are  given  ?  " 

"Of  what  use  is  an  opinion  without  proof  upon  which 
to  rest  it?  "  was  the  reply. 

"Do  you  think  Japan  is  usurping  Chinese  sovereignty 
in  Manchuria?"  I  asked. 

"China  must  ask  Japanese  permission  before  she  could 
build  a  railway  or  allow  it  to  be  built  in  Manchuria,  before 
she  could  effect  a  loan  for  administrative  purposes,  before 
she  could  grant  permission  to  an3'one  to  work  a  mine  in 
Manchuria,  put  down  a  factory  in  Manchuria  or  lease  a 
piece  of  land  in  Manchuria.  How  much  sovereignty  has 
a  country  in  territory  where  she  has  no  freedom  of  action 
in  such  matters  ?  " 

Not  much,  I  agreed.     That  was  clear. 

"America  had  an  agricultural  farm  scheme  in  Man- 
churia. American  agricultural  experts  from  the  States 
reported  favourably  and  did  a  lot  of  ground  work.  Japan 
blocked  the  project.  Japan  did  not  take  any  overt  or 
public  action,  but  she  put  pressure  on  the  Chinese  and 
the  thing  had  to  be  dropped.  Ask  old  Chang  Tso  Lin,  the 
Chinese  Governor  of  Manchuria,  for  the  lease  of  a  few 
thousand  mow  of  land  on  which  to  start  a  sugar-beet 
industry.  A  Japanese  syndicate  has  raised  10,000,000  yen 
to  start  growing  the  sugar  beet  near  Mukden  this  year. 
Chang  will  tell  you  that  the  Japanese  would  never  allow 
an  American  firm  to  do  that,  if  he  takes  it  into  his  head 
to  be  honest  with  you." 

"What  sort  of  a  chap  is  Chang  Tso  Lin  ?  "  I  asked. 


TO   WHOM   THE    DOOR   IS    CLOSED      143 

*'  The  sort  of  a  Governor  that  can  neither  read  nor  write 
and  does  not  care  a  hang  for  the  Central  Government  in 
Peking.  He  has  some  10,000  soldiers  that  have  the  sort 
of  loyalty  toward  him  that  all  Chinese  soldiers  have  toward 
the  man  who  pays  them.  About  80  per  cent,  of  the 
revenue  Chang  collects  goes  to  keep  up  his  little  army. 
iWhile  the  Japanese  will  not  pay  likin  taxes,  and  the  British 
are,  in  view  of  that  fact,  also  refusing  to  pay  likin,  Chang- 
squeezes  the  Manchurians,  right  enough." 

"Are  the  Japanese  satisfied  with  the  way  things  are 
going  in  Manchuria  ?  " 

"Ask  them,"  was  the  reply.  "I  do  not  know.  After 
ten  years  of  Japanese  effort  to  get  their  people  to  settle 
in  Manchuria  there  are  not  more  than  100,000  of  them 
here." 

"  How  many  soldiers  does  Japan  keep  here  ?  " 

"Two  divisions  and  a  mixed  brigade." 

"They  are  not  allowed,  by  treaty,  to  be  placed  outside 
the  railway  area,  are  they  ?  " 

"Go  along  the  railway  line.  The  boundary  of  the  rail- 
way area  is  in  sight  most  of  the  way.  See  how  many  of 
the  40,000  troops  you  can  find.  You  would  have  to  go  to 
Eastern  Mongolia  to  see  some  of  them." 

"Have  the  Japanese  benefited  Manchuria  in  any  way  ?  " 

"In  many  ways.  The  Russians  may  have  brought 
money  to  Manchuria.  The  Japanese  have  brought  busi- 
ness here.  Take  the  Fushun  Mine.  The  Russians  never 
worked  it  in  earnest.  It  is  a  coal  mine  worth  seeing.  I 
have  been  there  recently.  There  is  a  coal  mine  ten  miles 
long  and  a  mile  wide,  with  a  seam  of  excellent  coal  150 
feet  deep.  The  Japanese  are  taking  out  7,500  tons  of 
coal  a  day.  It  costs  them  80  cents  per  ton  (40  cents  in 
American  money)  at  the  pit  mouth.  They  sell  it  for  eight 
to  nine  dollars  a  ton  right  here  in  Manchuria,  and  it  is 
mighty  good  coal.  General  Leggett,  the  Commander-in- 
Chief  in  the  Philippine  Islands,  was  here  a  few  davs  ago, 
and  the  Japanese  tell  me  he  gave  them  a  big  contract  for 
Fushun  coal  for  the  United  States  Navy.  I  doubt  if  the 
Russians  would  have  ever  done  so  well  with  the  Fushun 
Mine,  and  the  Chinese  could  never  have  made  a  showino- 
with  it  themselves  !  No  Chinese  control  could  develop 
such  an  enterprise. 


144  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

"Then  there  is  the  soya  bean.  What  did  the  soya 
bean  amount  to  before  the  Japanese  came?  Nothing. 
Now  there  is  an  annual  business  in  Manchuria  in  the  soya 
bean  and  its  products,  such  as  bean-cake  and  bean-oil,  of 
27,000,000  dollars  gold,  nearly  ^6,000,000  sterling.  The 
Japanese  control  the  business  and  get  the  biggest  part  of 
the  swag,  but  the  Manchurian  farmer  benefits.  The  Man- 
churian  farmer  has  to  raise  the  beans.  He  can  more  than 
hold  his  own  as  a  farmer  against  the  Japanese  farmer,  who 
cannot  touch  him." 

"How  about  the  other  Manchurians  beside  the  farmers ? 
Do  any  other  classes  of  the  people  win  out  against  the 
Japanese  ?  " 

"Yes.  I  have  watched  that  with  interest.  Japanese 
small  traders  do  not  flourish  here.  A  Japanese  barber 
complained  to  me  that  his  fellow-Japanese  went  to  the 
Manchurian  barber  because  it  was  cheaper  for  them  to  do 
so.  I  asked  him  where  he  bought  his  meat  and  vegetables. 
*  From  the  Manchurian  butcher  and  greengrocer,'  he  said. 
He  could  not  afford  to  trade  at  the  Japanese  shops.  He 
was  too  poor.  I  guess  the  Manchurian  small  trader  is 
still  on  earth." 

"So  you  think  the  Japanese  are  far  from  being  a  curse 
to  Manchuria?  " 

"Judge  for  yourself.  Inspect  the  Japanese  hospitals 
for  the  Manchurians.  See  their  schools  for  the  Man- 
churians. Look  into  the  way  they  have  perfected  com- 
munication in  Manchuria.  The  railroad  is  not  a  curse,  is 
it?  The  mines  of  Manchuria  give  employment  to  many 
Manchurians  and  incidentally  employ  a  fine  collection  of 
American  and  German  machinery.  Every  railroad  bridge 
is  American.  The  Japanese  are  not  reaping  all  the  benefit 
of  their  opening  up  of  Manchuria.  I  do  not  consider  that 
the  Manchurian  farmer  would  be  better  off  under  a  purely 
Chinese  regime.  Far  from  it.  The  Japanese  are  not  so 
aggressive  as  the  Russians  were  when  they  had  a  free  hand 
here.  Some  Japanese  treat  the  Manchurians  badly,  but  the 
Manchurians  were  handled  without  gloves  by  the  JRussians, 
as  you  know.  Further,  no  one  could  be  more  brutal  than 
the  Chinese  to  the  Manchurians  when  they  chose." 

"What  about  the  Open  Door  in  Manchuria?  " 

"It  depends  upon  what  wants  to  come  in,"  answered  The 


TO    WHOM   THE    DOOR   IS   CLOSED     i45 

American.  "The  door  is  wide  enough  open  for  goods 
that  do  not  compete  too  directly  with  Japanese  goods. 
It  is  open,  too,  for  the  big  pusher.  The  Standard  Oil 
Company  gets  through  it.  If  big  American  manufacturers 
and  exporters  would  combine  with  big  railroad  and  ship- 
ping companies  in  the  way  Japanese  firms  of  that  sort 
combine,  no  closed  door  that  the  Japanese  could  put  in 
the  way  would  stop  American  business  in  Manchuria, 
unless  Americans  and  America  have  lost  all  spirit.  Letting 
the  Five  Group  lot  of  Demands  be  forced  on  China  in 
1915  by  Japan  was  a  crime,  and  what  Japan  gained  thereby 
will  constitute  a  bit  of  a  handicap  in  some  ways  as  regards 
foreign  enterprise  in  Manchuria.  If  the  United  States 
Government  put  its  foot  down,  however,  and  demanded 
fair  treatment  for  its  "nationals,  they  would  get  it,  and 
don't  you  forget  it.  The  bankers  in  America  would  have 
to  take  an  interest  in  things  out  here,  to  make  things  hum 
for  the  American  exporter.  I  am  not  fool  enough  to  think 
all  this  is  coming  to  pass.  Our  folk  at  home  have  too 
manv  markets  near  at  hand.  But  they  could  do  it  if  they 
tried." 

"So  you  think  the  door  is  really  open  ?  "  I  confessed  I 
was  surprised.  I  knew  of  an  American  line  of  goods  in 
which  The  American  had  an  interest,  once  sold  largely  in 
Manchuria,  in  1916  hardly  sold  at  all. 

"Did  I  say  so?  I  said  it  was  open  under  certain  cir- 
cumstances." The  American  threw  back  his  head  with  a 
laugh.  "It  is  closed  to  the  man  who  is  afraid  of  the 
Japanese,  or  whose  Government  is  inclined  to  forget  that 
he  is  still  on  earth  when  he  tries  to  do  business  outside 
its  borders." 


CHAPTER    XXXI 

ONE  KIND  OF  FRIENDLY  CO-OPERATION 

Mr.  Ma  Ting  Liang  is  a  Cantonese.  He  was,  in  191 6,  in 
his  thirties,  I  should  judge.  He  was  very  full  in  face, 
and  if  he  lived  sufficiently  long  promised  to  gather  avoir- 
dupois to  some  considerable  extent.  In  October,  1916, 
Mr.  Ma  was  occupying  the  position  of  Special  Commis- 
sioner for  Foreign  Affairs  in  Mukden  as  an  appointee  of 
the  Government  of  the  Chinese  Republic. 

I  think  Mr.  Ma  disliked  Mukden.  His  chief,  Governor 
Chang  Tso  Lin,  did  not  like  Mr.  Ma,  and  made  no  bones 
about  saying  so.  Chang  was  of  a  somewhat  different 
school,  if  he  could  be  described  as  belonging  to  any  school. 
For  Chang,  though  the  governor  of  a  province  with  a 
population  of  about  15,000,000  souls,  had  not  sufficient 
erudition  to  enable  him  to  read  a  word  or  write  a  single 
line.    Mr.  Ma  had  been  given  a  serviceable  education. 

An  official  Japanese  publication  described  Manchuria  as 
follows:  "Thanks  to  the  friendly  co-operation  of  the 
Chinese,  Russian,  and  Japanese  authorities  in  the  manage- 
ment of  railways,  in  the  introduction  of  sanitary  measures, 
as  well  as  in  establishing  schools  and  developing  industries, 
Manchuria  is  fast  becoming  a  busy  route  of  traffic  and 
travel  between  Europe  and  East  Asia,  and  a  land  of  peace 
and  prosperity." 

When  I  read  that,  I  was  inclined,  like  the  small  boy, 
to  cry  out  "What  ho!  " 

I  knew  that  Chang,  though  Chinese  Governor  of  Man- 
churia, had  no  more  to  do  with  the  management  of  the 
South  Manchurian  Railway  than  I  had.  His  friendly 
co-operation  in  the  introduction  of  sanitary  measures  in 
Manchuria  I  doubted.  I  suspect  strongly  that  he  would 
hardly  know  what  sanitation  meant.  To  establish  schools 
or  develop  industries  was  equally  out  of  Chang's  line, 
even  as  a  co-operator. 

146 


FRIENDLY    CO-OPERATION  147 

Therefore,  if  Manchuria  was  fast  becoming  a  land  of 
peace  and  prosperity,  as  the  official  scribe  of  the  Japanese 
Government  would  have  us  believe,  and  such  a  greatly-to- 
be-desired  result  was  in  anywise  due  to  Chinese  co-opera- 
tion, I  thought  Mr.  Ma  Ting  Liang  of  Canton,  Special 
Commissioner  for  Chinese  Foreign  Affairs  in  Manchuria, 
would  be  just  the  person  to  ask  all  about  it. 
So  I  called  on  Mr.  Ma. 

I  met  him  with  an  introduction  in  the  way  of  a  card 
from  an  old  schoolmate,  a  Chinese  gentleman  of  the 
Foreign  Office  in  Peking,  and  told  him  that  General  Tuan 
Chi  Jui  had  suggested  my  seeing  him  and  ascertaining 
from  him  just  what  the  condition  of  affairs  in  Manchuria 
might  be,  from  the  Chinese  standpoint. 

Mr.  Ma  did  not  dilate  particularly  on  the  peace  and 
prosperity  of  Manchuria.  I  must  confess  that.  Perhaps 
he  had  never  read  the  Japanese  official  publication  that  I 
had  perused. 

I  asked  Mr.  Ma  if  it  was  true  that  the  Japanese  mer- 
chants who  dealt  in  Manchuria  had  contracted  the  habit 
of  refusing  to  pay  likin,  which  is  the  local  Customs  tax 
levied  by  all  Chinese  towns. 

Mr.  Ma  said  he  was  afraid  that  such  a  habit  had  become 
an  integral  part  of  Japanese  business  procedure  in  Man- 
churia, or  words  to  that  effect. 

"Why  do  not  you  Chinese  folk  put  up  a  stern  front 
against  such  high-handed  practices  on  the  part  of  the 
Japanese?  "  I  asked. 

"We  cannot,"  blandly  replied  Mr.  Ma.  "Suppose  we 
were  to  seize  a  Japanese  consignment  of  goods,  the  owners 
of  which  refused  to  pay  likin  ?  A  fine  row  would  be  raised 
about  it.  The  Central  Government  at  Peking  is  most 
anxious  that  we  should  give  Japan  no  such  opportunities 
for  the  formulation  of  further  demands  for  new  privileges 
in  Manchuria  and  Mongolia.  Everv  such  incident  leads 
to  trouble." 

"How  can  you  expect  other  foreigners  to  pay  likin  if 
it  is  well  known  that  the  Japanese  do  not  do  so  ?  "  I 
queried. 

"We  do  not,  I  am  afraid,"  said  Mr.  Ma.  "We  have 
come  to  an  arrangement  with  the  English  in  Manchuria 
about  it.     Of  course  we  cannot  openly  countenance  such 


148  THE   FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

a  thing,  but  everybody  knows  that  we  cannot  collect  likin 
from  the  Japanese,  so  we  have  got  into  the  way  of  taking 
a  sort  of  bill  from  the  English  firms  instead  of  taking  a 
cash  payment,  as  formerly.  That  saves  the  face  of  the 
local  collectors." 

Incidentally,  it  saved  the  face  of  the  Chinese  Govern- 
ment in  Manchuria,  which  was  more  to  the  point,  but 
Mr.  Ma  did  not  put  it  quite  that  way. 

"We  send  the  charges  to  the  British  GDnsul-General 
in  the  form  of  comprador's  charges,"  continued  Mr.  Ma, 
"and  there  they  rest.  At  the  end  of  a  year  they  lapse 
and  we  cancel  them.  If  we  can  prove  that  the  Japanese 
competitors  of  the  English  firm  have  paid  any  likin,  a 
similar  amount  is  at  once  paid  by  the  English  house. 
They  are  perfectly  fair,  the  English.  They  take  the  stand 
that  it  is  not  right  that  they  should  suffer  the  handicap 
of  likin  when  their  Japanese  competitors  go  free  of  it. 
They  are  right  enough.  We  do  not  dare  press  the 
Japanese  to  make  them  pay.  So  no  one  pays.  The 
Manchurians  pay  in  the  end,  for  the  taxes  have  to  be 
raised  somehow." 

At  that  rate  I  could  hardly  imagine  Manchuria  fast 
becoming  a  land  of  peace  and  prosperity,  the  official 
Japanese  view  notwithstanding. 

"I  have  heard  much  of  roving  bands  of  Mongolian 
robbers  and  rascals,  containing  a  seasoning  of  Japanese, 
who  come  over  toward  the  railway  area,  have  a  brush 
with  the  Chinese  troops,  and  escape  into  the  zone 
administered  by  the  Japanese,  where  the  Chinese  troops 
are  not  allowed  to  follow  them.  Has  there  been  any 
further  friction  of  that  sort  of  late?  " 

This  subject  worried  Mr.  Ma.  At  first  he  was  not 
inclined  to  be  very  communicative  upon.it.  He  agreed 
that  just  the  sort  of  thing  I  had  described  had  been 
rampant  and  had  caused  much  trouble.  There,  again, 
the  Central  Government  at  Peking  was  very  hard  to 
please.  The  Japanese  would  not  allow  the  Mongolians  to 
be  pursued  into  the  railway  area.  Conflict  had  more 
than  once  taken  place  between  the  Chinese  and  Japanese 
troops,  the  forrlfcr  alleging  that  the  Japanese  had  helped 
the  Mongolians.  It  was  a  delicate  question,  made  all 
the  more  delicate,  Mr.  Ma  said,  by  the  fact  that  he  had 


FRIENDLY    GO-OPERATION  149 

heard  only  tliat  morning  that  a  new  lot  of  Mongol iiins, 
among  whose  numbers  were  many  Japanese  renegades, 
had  crossed  the  border  of  Manchuria  and  were  threatening 
further  trouble. 

"Japan  is  placing  police  all  over  Manchuria  and  even 
in  Eastern  Mongolia  at  will,  is  she  not?  "  I  asked. 

"Practically  so,"  was  the  rather  mournful  answer. 
"You  see,  the  Japanese  claim  the  right  to  put  police  where 
one  of  their  consuls  has  been  placed.  So  when  they  want 
police  in  a  town  where  they  otherwise  would  have  no 
right  to  have  them,  they  just  put  a  consul  there  and  follow 
him  up  with  the  police,  and  what  can  we  do?  It  causes 
trouble  all  the  time,  but  we  are  helpless.  There  are  always 
things  coming  up  here  that  cause  trouble." 

My  mind  went  back  to  that  official  Japanese  statement : 
"Fast  becoming  a  land  of  peace."  I  was  fast  becoming 
sceptical  of  that  official  Japanese  scribe  and  his  statements. 
A  land  of  peace,  indeed  !     An  odd  sort  of  peace  ! 

"  Is  it  true  that  if  I  wanted  to  lease  some  Manchurian 
land,  on  behalf  of  an  American  syndicate  that  was  anxious 
to  start  the  cultivation  of  the  sugar-beet  on  a  considerable 
scale,"  I  asked,  "and  the  required  land  was  outside  the 
railway  area  and  right  away  from  Japanese  jurisdiction, 
the  Chinese  Government  would  find,  no  matter  how  much 
it  wanted  to  see  such  an  industry  started  in  Manchuria, 
that  the  Japanese  Government  would  block  the  way  ?  " 

"Japan,"  replied  Mr.  Ma,  "obtained  special  allowances 
with  reference  to  Manchuria  by  the  Five  Group  Demands 
in  1 9 15.  Japanese  subjects  can  thereby  obtain  a  thirty- 
year  lease  on  land  in  Southern  Manchuria  on  which  to 
erect  buildings  for  trade  and  manufacture  or  for  engaging 
in  agricultural  work.  They  can  also  work  mines  in  cer- 
tain areas.  But  Japan  argues  that  such  privileges  are  not 
subject  to  the  Favoured  Nation  Clause." 

"Humph,"  said  I.  "Good  solid  pressure  on  the  part 
of  some  Power  that  held  a  different  view  would  cause 
Japan  to  change  her  tune  about  that." 

"Perhaps  so,"  assented  Mr.  Ma.  "But  from  where  is 
the  pressure  going  to  come?" 

And  for  the  life  of  me  I  could  not  tell  him.  Can  anv- 
one  ? 

"Foreign  consulates  are  here  to  see  fair  play,"  I  said; 


150  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

"but  your  Provincial  Chinese  Government  buckles  under 
to  such  an  extent  to  the  Japanese  that  it  is  impossible  for 
the  foreign  consulates  to  give  you  the  slightest  assistance." 

"That  may  be  true,"  again  assented  Mr.  Ma.  "What 
is  wanted  for  China  is  a  clear  assurance  from  the  Powers 
'that  if  she  makes  a  firm  stand  at  Peking  to  try  to  save 
her  sovereignty  in  Manchuria,  the  Powers  will  back  her 
up.     Otherwise,  her  sovereignty  here  is  as  good  as  gone." 

That  fact  was  as  plain  as  a  pikestaff. 

China's  sovereigntv  in  Manchuria,  what  little  there  was 
left  of  it,  w^as  of  so  slight  a  character  in  1916  that  China  had 
a  small  word  indeed  in  most  of  the  affairs  of  vital  import- 
ance to  her,  internally,  in  Manchuria. 

"Friendly  co-operation,"  said  the  official  Japanese 
writer. 

Either  his  knowledge  of  the  English  language  was 
small  or  his  sense  of  humour  great. 

The  sort  of  "friendly  co-operation  "  from  which  Man- 
churia was  suffering  was  like  to  that  which  a  man  experi- 
ences when  a  well-armed,  unscrupulous,  and  powerful 
highwayman  stops  him  on  a  lonely  heath  and  suggests 
that  they  should  between  them  proceed  to  turn  the 
unfortunate  man's  pockets  inside  out. 

If  no  help  is  within  call,  he  does  it. 

Could  you  blame  him  ? 

No?     Then  do  not  blame  China. 

Let  us  merely  remark,  as  we  do  in  everyday  life  when 
we  hear  that  robbers  have  been  about:  "Where  in  the 
world  were  the  police?  " 


CHAPTER   XXXII 

JAPANESE  PROGRESS  IN   KOREA 

My  train  reached  Keijo,  in  Chosen,  as  the  Japanese  now 
call  Seoul,  in  Korea,  at  an  early  hour  in  the  day. 

On  the  station  platform  I  spied  a  fellow-American,  a 
doctor  who  was  investigating  sanitary  and  hospital  con- 
ditions in  Asia  on  behalf  of  a  great  institution  of  inter- 
national interests. 

The  doctor  and  I  had  once  been  fellow-passengers  on 
an  up-river  steamer  on  the  Yangtze-Kiang.  His  work 
in  the  Far  East  has  been  spread  over  many  years.  The 
American  Government  used  him  to  great  advantage  in 
the  Philippines  for  a  considerable  period,  in  the  days 
before  a  mistaken,  fatuous,  Bryan-born  policy  started  to 
drive  the  best  American  brains  from  the  service  in  the 
islands.  Such  work  as  the  doctor  did  for  the  genus 
Filipino,  however,  will  outlive  the  work  of  the  Democratic 
Administration  in  the  Philippines  that  went  far  toward 
undoing  his  labours. 

In  other  words,  the  record  of  it  will  live,  though  the 
structure  he  had  helped  build  was  abandoned  before  it 
had  been  raised  to  a  sufficient  height  to  prevent  its  gradual 
decay  and  eventual  obliteration,  through  the  studied 
neglect  that  settled  like  a  blight  over  many  a  splendid  bit 
of  departmental  humanitarian  work  in  the  Philippines 
when  Governor  Harrison  came  out  to  Manila  from  his 
political  labours  at  home  and  docilely  obeyed,  as  a  good 
politician  should,  his  political  orders  from  Washington. 

Yes,  the  record  of  the  work  of  the  doctor  and  his 
fellows  will  live.  Not,  perhaps,  in  the  history  of  our 
times  that  posterity  will  read,  but  in  that  book  that  is 
kept  somewhere,  somehow,  by  someone,  out  of  sight  and 
beyond  the  ken  of  mortals. 

Such  records  do  exist,  or  what  would  be  the  use  of 
it  all? 


152  THE    FAR    EAST   UNVEILED 

So  when  I  meet  the  doctor  I  take  off  my  hat  to  him. 
He  is  one  of  the  men  who  have  Done  Things.  Incident- 
ally, he  is  one  of  the  men  who  are  doing  them  yet,  very 
unostentatiously,  but  very  well. 

"Good  morning,"  I  said.  "And  how  much  of  interest 
is  there  in  ancient  Seoul  for  the  sightseer  to  glance  over 
as  he  rushes  past  ?  " 

The  doctor  smiled  his  smile  of  perennial  good-fellow- 
ship, the  sign-manual  of  that  loosely  tied  but  ever  secure 
bond  between  men  of  one  blood,  far  from  home,  but  of 
kindred  sympathies. 

"Not  very  much,"  he  replied.  "Not  so  much  but  that 
one  could  see  the  sights  in  a  few  hours,  so  far  as  most 
globe-trotters  see  sights  they  count  worth  the  seeing.  But 
there  are  things  enough  to  interest  one  for  a  long  time 
in  Seoul,  if  one  is  interested  in  the  work  the  Japanese  are 
doing." 

"Are  the  Japanese  benefiting  Korea?  Has  their 
coming  brought  good  to  the  country?  "  Here  was  a  man, 
I  thought,  whose  opinion  on  such  a  subject  was  well 
worth  having.  No  superficial  observer  this.  A  man 
who  saw  beneath  the  outside  skin  of  things.  He  had  been 
travelling  in  out-of-the-way  corners  of  Korea,  too. 

"People  in  the  East  talk  much  of  sympathy  for  the 
Koreans,  groaning  under  the  hard  hand  of  Japanese  rule. 
They  point  often  to  Korea  as  an  object  lesson  of  the 
calamities  that  might  befall  other  countries,  other  districts, 
if  doubtfully  blessed  by  Japanese  administration  and  con- 
trol," I  said  in  parenthesis,  by  way  of  giving  special  point 
to  my  queries. 

There  on  the  station  platform  of  Korea's  capital  city, 
in  the  all-too-short  space  of  time  before  his  train  pulled  out 
for  a  provincial  town,  one  of  the  group  of  Men  who  had 
Done  Things  in  a  foreign  land  their  own  Mother-Country 
had  essayed  to  govern  for  its  health  and  good  and  progress, 
told  me  what  he  thought  of  Japan's  work  in  Chosen,  for  so 
let  us  call  Korea.  Japan  will  have  her  way  in  that  matter 
of  the  change  of  name,  whether  or  no. 

"To  begin  with,"  commented  the  doctor,  "Japan  has 
spent  more  money  in  Chosen  than  she  is  likely  to  get  back 
out  of  the  country  for  a  great  many  years  to  come.  Chosen 
has  certainly  benefited  by  that  expenditure.     No  one  can 


JAPANESE    PROGRESS    IN    KOREA        153 

gainsay  that  fact  who  comes  to  Chosen  and  compares  it, 
as  it  is  to-day,  with  the  Korea  of  ante-japanese  days. 
The  Chosen  Railway,  with  its  various  activities,  its  docks 
in  the  harbour  towns,  its  railway  service,  its  big  hotel  here 
in  Keijo,  is  a  step  forward. 

"Chosen  was  not  a  particularly  go-ahead  community 
in  the  old  Korean  days.  The  Korean  regime  was  not  of  a 
sort  that  developed  the  resources  of  the  country.  Chinese 
.dministration  was  little  better.  The  Japanese  are  opening 
up  many  avenues  of  industry  here.  Mining,  agriculture, 
'  and  industrial  plants  have  all  been  given  no  little 
attention. 

"The  reorganisation  of  the  monetary  system  and  estab- 
lishment of  the  Bank  of  Chosen  was  certainly  no  curse  to 
the  people.  You  will  see  fine  buildings  here  in  Keijo,  built 
with  Japanese  money,  and  none  finer  than  that  of  the  Bank 
of  Chosen.  The  Chosen  Railway  Hotel  is  so  grand  a 
building  that  you  will  be  more  than  surprised  to  see  it  in 
this  part  of  the  world,  I  can  assure  you. 

"Streets  have  been  paved,  roads  made  and  general 
means  of  communication  wonderfully  bettered. 

"Schools,  both  of  the  ordinary  sort  and  industrial 
schools  as  well,  have  been  started  in  Chosen  for  the 
Koreans  by  the  Japanese.  Hospitals  have  been  estab- 
lished, too.  That  sort  of  thing  is  accompanied  by  expense 
that  can  hardly  be  called  an  investment,  in  the  ordinary 
business  sense  of  the  term. 

"The  Koreans  could  never  and  would  never  have  done 
all  that  for  themselves.  Japan  has  done  it  for  them. 
Koreans  have  always  been  very  poor,  and  those  above  the 
class  of  the  mere  day-toiler  were  never  industrious  as  a 
race.  This  is  no  land  of  wealth  now.  You  will  not  meet 
any  Korean  millionaires.  You  could  not  find,  if  you 
searched  Chosen  for  them,  half  a  dozen  Koreans  that 
would  be  considered  even  moderately  rich  men,  judged 
from  Western-world  standards.  But  the  Koreans  are 
really  better  off  to-day,  so  far  as  the  masses  are  concerned, 
than  they  were  before  the  Japanese  came. 

"The  greater  part  of  the  Koreans  are  farmers,  and  very 
good  farmers  too,  in  their  way.  The  railway  and  its 
extensions  have  made  farming  much  more  profitable  in 
Chosen . 


154  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

"So  when  one  generalises,  I  cannot  see  that  Chosen  is 
worse  off  under  Japanese  rule  than  it  was  before  it.  On 
the  contrary,  I  think  the  man  who  looks  at  Chosen  as  it  is 
at  the  present  moment  is  bound  to  admit  that  Japan  has 
proceeded  here  in  much  the  same  way  that  any  other  really 
progressive  nation  might  have  done  under  like  circum- 
stances, and  that  the  country  has  benefited,  whether  it 
would  or  no.  Many  of  the  features  of  Japanese  administra- 
tion may  have  been  harsh.  I  have  heard  that  they  were. 
But  the  material  good  that  has  been  done  is  evident, 
and  to  my  mind  Chosen  must  inevitably  be  the  gainer 
for  that. 

"How  a  man  who  knew  the  old  Korea  can  study  the 
new  Chosen  at  close  hand  and  not  see  improvement  in  the 
living  conditions  of  the  people  and  greater  opportunities 
for  them  to  gain  a  livelihood,  I  do  not  see." 

That  was  how  the  doctor  answered  my  questions. 

Chosen  is  almost  as  large  as  Japan  itself.  Only 
16,000,000  people  inhabit  Chosen,  in  comparison  with 
Japan's  70,000,000  or  more.  Of  the  16,000,000  less 
than  300,000  are  Japanese.  Chosen  is  essentially  an  agri- 
cultural community,  as  is  Manchuria.  Just  as  the 
imported  Japanese  agriculturist  proves  an  inferior  farmer 
to  the  Manchurian  farmer,  so  the  Japanese  immigrant  to 
Chosen  compares  unfavourably  with  the  native  tiller  of  the 
soil.  Climatic  conditions,  too,  deter  Japanese  immigra- 
tion. The  result  is  that,  regardless  of  the  plans  that  may 
have  been  in  the  minds  of  those  at  the  head  of  Japanese 
affairs  some  half-dozen  years  before,  it  was  fairly  evident 
in  1916  that  the  Korean  was  the  man  most  likely  to  benefit 
materially  by  the  exploitation  of  Chosen. 

When  one  thinks  of  Japan,  with  a  density  of  population 
of  nearly  400  persons  per  square  mile,  and  Chosen  with 
great  districts  where  the  density  of  population  is  less  than 
fifty  souls,  it  gives  one  pause  that  more  Japanese  have  not 
trekked  northward.  Nearly  84  per  cent,  of  the  Koreans 
are  engaged  in  agriculture.  Of  the  300,000  Japanese  in 
Chosen,  only  36,000  are  on  the  land. 

Increased  prosperity  has  come  to  the  agricultural 
element  in  Chosen.  Between  thirteen  million  and  thirteen 
million  and  a  half  Koreans  and  36,000  Japanese  are  tillers 
of  the  soil  in  Chosen.     He  who  argues  that  the  Koreans 


JAPANESE    PROGRESS   IN   KOREA       i55 

are  not  benefiting-  by  Japanese  rule  must  ponder  the  fore- 
going figures. 

Japan's  present  plan  is  to  make  Japanese  of  the 
Koreans.  She  is  bent  on  what  she  calls  a  process  of 
assimilation.  I  gathered  in  Chosen  that  the  Japanese  think 
they  are  making  great  headway  along  that  line.  The 
Japanese  language  is  forced  on  the  Koreans  wherever  pos- 
sible and  practicable.  There  are  points  of  similarity  be- 
tween the  two  tongues,  and  the  Koreans  seem  to  learn 
Japanese  readily.  The  Korean  tillers  of  the  soil  seem  to 
place  no  insuperable  obstacles  in  the  way  of  a  gradual  ab- 
sorption of  their  race  and  a  sort  of  elimination  of  it.  The 
rest  of  the  Koreans  do  not  count  for  much.  Those  who 
are  not  mere  labourers  are  anything  but  industrious.  The 
upper  classes,  what  is  left  of  them,  scorn  work.  They 
scorn  most  things,  it  seemed  to  me,  except  long  white 
robes. 

I  asked  if  the  Koreans  were  an  essentially  clean  race. 
An  informant  said  they  were  not.  "It  is  odd,"  he  con- 
tinued, "to  find  how  differently  Oriental  races  look  upon 
cleanliness  of  body.  The  Japanese  as  a  race  place  great 
importance  upon  cleanliness  of  body,  and  clothing  as  well. 
The  Koreans  insist  upon  clean  clothing,  but  pay  little 
attention  to  cleanliness  of  person.  The  Chinese  are  ex- 
tremely dirty  both  as  regards  clothing  and  body."  I  may 
say  I  do  not  agree  with  all  his  premises.  Neither  could 
any  other  man  who  has  travelled  in  Japan  with  well-de- 
veloped olfactory  nerves. 

"  I  have  heard  much  said  by  outsiders  about  the  brutal 
treatment  of  Koreans  by  the  Japanese,"  I  remarked  to  my 
informant.  "Have  you  seen  much  of  that  sort  of  thing 
since  you  have  been  in  Chosen  ?  " 

"No,"  was  the  prompt  answer.  "The  commoner 
element  among  the  Japanese  may  become  somewhat 
aggressive  sometimes.  The  extreme  passivity  and  ultra- 
meekness  of  the  Koreans  almost  tempts  a  bully.  All  sorts 
of  Japanese  have  come  to  Chosen,  good  and  bad.  Some- 
times I  have  been  inclined  to  think  the  bad  predominated 
in  certain  localities.  Naturally  enough  there  has  been 
some  abuse  of  the  stupid,  harmless  type  of  native,  but  it  is 
punished  when  discovered.  Most  of  us  feel  too  much  sym- 
pathy and  pitv  for  the  Koreans  with  whom  we  come  into 


156  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

contact  to  treat  them  othenvise  than  well.  You  could  hardly 
imagine  the  inherent  gentleness  of  this  people.  They  are 
so  utterly  helpless,  so  absolutely  childlike,  that  no  one  but 
a  brute  would  wound  their  feelings.  A  man  would  be  a 
real  rogue  who  could  find  the  heart  to  take  advantage  of 
their  weaknesses. 

"Personally,  I  like  the  Koreans.  They  are  lazy.  They 
take  little  or  no  pride  in  their  country  or  their  homes.  But 
they  are  a  dignified,  slow,  stately,  gentle,  lovable  lot,  to 
me.  I  would  no  sooner  strike  a  Korean  than  I  would  kick 
a  friendly,  trusting  dog." 

Weeks  afterwards,  in  Tokyo,  I  met  a  Japanese  acquaint- 
ance, a  man  who  controls  a  large  business  in  Japan,  and 
whose  name  is  known  from  one  end  of  the  islands  to  the 
other, 

"Hello  !  "  I  said  as  I  greeted  him.    "What  is  new?" 

"I  know  of  nothing  new,"  was  the  reply.  "I  am  a  bit 
strange  here  just  now.  I  have  been  on  a  tour  of  sight- 
seeing in  Chosen  and  Manchuria." 

"So  have  I,"  I  remarked. 

"The  railway  companies  in  both  Manchuria  and  Chosen 
showed  me  many  things,  some  of  which  I  cared  little 
about,  that  consumed  much  time."  He  had  evidently  been 
"personally  conducted"  while  on  the  continent. 

"What  did  you  think  of  Chosen?"  I  asked. 

"Fine  country  in  some  ways,  I  suppose,"  was  the 
non-committal  answer. 

I  considered  my  Japanese  acquaintance  a  well-informed 
man,  much  broader-minded  than  most  of  his  countrymen, 
decidedly  less  insular  in  point  of  view.  I  was  keen  to  see 
what  impression  Chosen  had  left  upon  him,  the  one  that 
would  prove  the  most  indelible;  the  one  that  he  would  first 
express  as  his  most  vivid  remembrance  of  Chosen. 

He  did  not  continue  at  once,  but  deliberately  took  a 
cigarette  from  his  case  and  leisurely  lit  it  as  if  carefully 
selecting  his  words  before  he  made  reply. 

"What  did  you  think  of  the  fine  buildings  Japanese 
enterprise  has  erected  in  the  towns  of  Chosen  and  Man- 
churia?" I  queried,  to  give  him  a  lead. 

"You  have  hit  it,"  he  said.  "That  is  what  I  will  never 
forget.  Big  railway  stations,  much  bigger  than  there  is 
any  need  for.     Big  hotels,  some  of  them  far  too  great  for 


JAPANESE    PROGRESS    IN    KOREA        i57 

any  possible  requirements  for  years  and  years  to  come. 
Big  buildings  like  that  of  the  Bank  of  Chosen  in  Keijo, 
many  times  larger  than  they  might  have  been  and  yet 
served  their  purpose  just  as  well. 

"All  so  big.  All  so  imposing.  Why?  To  make  an" 
impression  on  the  Koreans  and  the  Manchurians,  that  is 
why.  All  to  show  how  greatly  Japan  has  progressed 
along  what  road  ?  The  road  that  leads  where  the  nations 
of  the  Western  world  are  pushing  on,  many,  many  years 
ahead  of  Japan.  In  the  sort  of  way  that  seems  to  count 
most  to  the  Japanese  in  Chosen  and  Manchuria^  more- 
over, those  Western  nations  seem  likely  to  remain  a  long 
way  ahead  for  many  years  to  come." 

I  knew  my  Japanese  friend  for  an  ardent  patriot  and 
possessed  of  a  fanatical  love  for  things  Japanese.  But  I 
knew  him,  too,  as  a  very  astute  man  of  business,  and 
therefore  I  could  not  quite  catch  his  drift. 

"  Does  not  material  development  mean  progress,  then  ?  " 
I  queried. 

"Progress — yes,"  he  answered.  "But  why  not  strive 
for  progress  more  sensibly,  if  less  ostentatiously  ?  Why 
be  so  blatant  in  proclaiming  to  the  world  that  Japan  is 
eager  to  copy,  copy,  copy,  everlastingly  to  copy  to  the  ex- 
clusion of  every  other  idea  ?  Have  we  no  good  in  Japan 
that  is  Japanese  ? 

"I  saw  a  Korean,  a  splendid  type  of  man,  tall  and 
erect,  walking  in  the  streets  of  Keijo.  His  step  was  slow, 
his  head  held  high,  his  robes  white,  long,  and  flowing. 
But  instead  of  the  little  round  black  hat  which  at  first 
seems  absurd  to  strangers,  but  soon  takes  a  very  important 
place  in  the  picture  in  Korea,  this  Korean  in  Keijo  wore 
a  common,  cheap,  cloth  travelling  cap  of  a  pattern  of 
wide,  horrid  checks  of  cream  and  black. 

"It  was  merely  laughable  to  a  man  who  had  no  artist 
or  philosopher  in  him,  but  to  a  man  who  saw  something 
to  admire  in  the  stately,  gentle  Koreans,  for  all  their  dis- 
like of  work  and  inability  to  govern  themselves,  it  was 
garish.  I  said  so  to  a  Korean  gentleman  of  the  older 
school,  a  man  of  culture  and  refinement,  with  whom  I  was 
at  that  moment  in  conversation.  Why,  I  asked,  in  the 
name  of  goodness  did  the  man  with  the  cap  make  such  a 
guy  of  himself? 


158  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

"The  old  Korean  gentleman  smiled  and  answered  that 
the  cap-clad  one  was  a  new  product.  He  got  his  ideas 
from  the  Japanese.  Let  me  look  about  me  dt  the  Japanese, 
he  suggested.  They  copied  everything,  except  their  own 
Japanese  ideas  and  customs.  The  farther  they  got  away 
from  Japanese  things  the  better  they  seemed  to  think  they 
had  done.  The  big  buildings,  the  unnecessary  display  of 
wealth,  had  not  escaped  the  eye  of  the  Koreans,  said  the 
old  gentleman.  They  saw  it  and  laughed  in  their  sleeves. 
Copyists,  they  called  the  Japanese.  Aping  the  Europeans 
to  whom  they  pretended  to  hold  themselves  superior. 

"So  he  went  on.  And  I  heard  the  same  thing  in 
another  form  in  Manchuria.  They  are  laughing  at  us,  the 
best  of  them  over  there.  Thus  does  our  progress  impress 
them.  Hence  what  a  waste,  that  extra  expenditure  de- 
signed only  to  show  how  great  the  Japanese  are  becoming. 
We  are  in  more  than  one  phase  becoming  too  great  wor- 
shippers of  materialism  in  Japan.  Are  we  to  follow,  then, 
the  footsteps  of  Germany  ?  Why  not  more  of  old  Japan  ? 
There  was  much  in  it  that  was  good  and  true  and  noble. 
There  was  much  in  it  that  we  can  ill  afford  to  forget.  That 
is  the  line  of  thought  given  to  me  by  the  material  progress, 
pushed  ahead  of  all  else  in  the  way  of  progress,  in  Korea 
and  Manchuria." 

Thus  do  points  of  view  differ. 

The  odd  thing  about  it  is  that  two  such  divergent 
views  in  point  of  expression  should  contain,  as  I  found 
they  did,  so  much  of  truth  in  each. 

But  the  Japanese  knew  his  own  land  well  and  took  with 
him  to  Korea  and  Manchuria  much  in  his  mind  to  help  to 
colour  his  view. 

No  one  who  heard  him  that  morning  in  Tokyo,  and  who 
had  spent  a  few  months  in  Japan  with  his  eyes  open,  could 
fail  to  realise  that  he  was  talking  sound  sense  and  that  he 
was  rightly  criticising  a  not  unimportant  feature  of  the 
national  characteristics  of  present-day  Japan. 

"Are  we,  then,  to  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  Germany?  " 
More  than  one  Japanese  is  asking  the  question  in  these 
later  years. 

Let  us,  for  Japan's  sake,  devoutly  hope  not. 

Personally  I  am  sure  Japan  will  not  do  so. 


CHAPTER   XXXlll 

CONSERVATION   OF  LABOUR  IN  JAPAN 

The  man  who  does  not  pretend  to  know  much  about  the 
Far  East  is  always  lectured  to  by  residents  in  the  Orient 
who,  having  some  two  to  five  years  of  experience  with 
Eastern  peoples  to  their  credit,  seek  to  impart  words  of 
wisdom  to  the  tyro. 

Frequently  one  finds,  in  a  country  like  Japan,  some 
foreign  resident  who  might  live  in  a  community,  Occi- 
dental or  Oriental,  for  a  score  of  years,  without  absorbing 
much  information  as  to  the  characteristics  of  his  neigh- 
bours. This  type  of  man  all  too  frequently  poses  as 
an  authority  on  things  Japanese  whenever  opportunity 
offers. 

Some  of  these  well-intentioned  folk  give  the  stranger 
in  Japan  a  weird  idea  indeed  of  various  characteristics  of 
the  Japanese. 

One  Englishman,  who  had  spent  a  couple  of  years  in 
Japan,  had  the  idea  firmly  implanted  in  his  head  that  the 
Japanese  manufacturers  were  most  progressive,  that  they 
knew  how  to  get  the  most  labour  out  of  the  Japanese,  and 
that  they  had  learned  how  to  buy  and  handle  machinery 
even  to  the  point  where  they  would  scrap  half-worn  tool- 
machines  to  make  a  place  for  new  ones  of  a  more  up-to-date 
and  efficient  type. 

Listening  to  that  good  chap  for  an  evening  and  absorb- 
ing some  of  his  ideas  on  Japan  resulted  in  my  spending 
a  few  extra  days  in  probing  around  in  search  for  some 
remote  evidence  that  a  word  of  what  he  had  said  was  in 
anywise  correct.  Eventually  I  learned  that  he  was  wrong- 
all  the  way  through. 

The  Japanese  manufacturer  knows  nothing  at  all  of 
conserving  the  skilled  labour  of  Japan.  To  begin  with,  the 
skilled  labour  of  Japan  is  not,  as  yet,  a  very  large  propor- 
tion of  the  working  classes.    The  way  in  which  the  average 

159 


i6o  THE    FAR    EAST   UNVEILED 

Japanese  employer  works  his  employees  reminds  one  of 
European  labour  conditions  of  three  or  four  score  years  ago. 
The  long  hours  of  work  without  rest  or  respite,  the  total 
disregard  of  the  wearing  of  the  human  machine,  the  treat- 
ment of  employees  in  such  manner  that  they  escape  from  a 
factory  with  much  the  same  sort  of  relief  that  they  might 
experience  when  escaping  from  a  penitentiary,  the  failure 
to  take  into  account  the  necessity  for  proper  nourishment, 
recreation  or  home  life  among  workpeople  if  they  are  to  be 
retained  as  useful  units  in  an  industrial  army,  all  these 
things  go  to  show,  beyond  possibility  of  contradiction, 
that  Japan  is  a  nation  where  the  value  of  the  skilled  em- 
ployee is  less  appreciated  than  in  any  country  in  the  world 
which  has  any  aspirations  toward  commercial  and 
industrial  supremacy. 

I  am  aware  that  very  large  concerns  in  Japan,  such 
as  the  Mitsubishi  Company,  look  upon  skilled  labour  dif- 
ferently, but  they  form  a  small  percentage  of  Japan's 
employers  of  labour.  When  I  visited  the  Mitsubishi  plant 
at  Nagasaki,  where  between  twenty  and  thirty  thousand 
hands  are  employed,  the  managing  director  explained  to 
me  a  most  elaborate  scheme  that  had  been  adopted  by  the 
company  whereby  boys  were  recruited  from  the  schools, 
put  to  further  schooling  at  the  instance  and  under  the 
supervision  of  the  compan}'^,  and  raised  from  tender  youth 
to  become  valuable  assets  to  the  big  concern  that  educated 
them  to  its  needs.  That  is  only  one  of  a  group  of 
very  advanced  and  idealistic  schemes  the  Mitsubishi 
Company  has  in  operation.  It  is  quite  an  exceptional 
concern. 

The  Japanese  have  not  yet  learned  the  value  of 
machinery  of  late  design.  They  are  learning,  but  still  have 
a  long  way  to  go  on  that  road.  In  more  than  one  shop 
old  machines,  long  past  their  usefulness,  could  be  seen. 
Some  of  these  were  admittedly  an  encumbrance,  but  Japan 
will  be  long  in  learning  the  relative  value  of  machinery. 
Of  course,  in  1916  the  purchase  of  new  machinery  had  been 
rendered  difficult.  Many  a  cotton-spinning  plant  in  Japan 
had  bought  its  machinery  from  some  Indian  mill  that  had 
been  despoiled  to  equip  its  Japanese  competitor.  In  one 
big  mill  I  saw  some  shockingly  worn,  old  spindles. 
Remarking  on  their  aged  appearance  I  was  informed  that 


CONSERVATION    OF    LABOUR    IN    JAPAN  i6i 

they  had  been  bought  in  India  as  scrap-iron,  shipped  to 
Japan,  and  overhauled,  rebuih,  made  to  run  somehow,  and 
were  earning  their  weight  in  gold.  "We  find  it  impossible 
to  get  what  we  want  in  the  way  of  new  spinning  machin- 
ery," said  the  foreman  of  that  shop,  "so  we  have  to  seek 
out  what  we  can  lay  our  hands  on  and  do  the  most  with 
it  that  we  can." 

Seldom  indeed  could  I  find,  in  my  rambles  among  the 
factories  and  mills  of  Japan,  a  man  who  could  talk  intelli- 
gently on  the  subject  of  the  conservation  of  labour  or  the 
conservation  of  machinery. 

I  well  remember  hammering  away  on  the  former  topic 
for  some  time  one  day  in  Fukui,  the  great  centre  of  the 
habutae  weaving  industry  of  Japan.  We  were  standing 
by  one  of  the  old  hand-looms.  Most  of  the  looms  on 
the  floor  were  of  a  modern  type,  run  by  electricity,  for 
the  plant  was  one  of  the  largest  and  most  modern  in  Fukui. 
But  the  half  dozen  by  which  we  stood  and  watched  the 
rhythmical  darting  of  the  swift  shuttles  were  worked  by 
hand. 

The  women  who  worked  these  hand-looms  were  deft  of 
movement.  Theirs  was  no  novice  touch.  Long  years  of 
practice  had  made  them  adepts. 

The  foreman  admitted  that  the  machine  looms  turned 
out  the  more  even  work.  The  beautifully  coloured  lines 
were  most  surely  straight.  The  delicate  mesh  was  more 
surely  firmly  woven,  and  woven  equally,  when  done  on 
the  later-type  looms.  But  those  of  the  hand-workers 
whose  machines  had  been  retained  were  experts.  Their 
work  was  of  a  high  order.  They  were  paid  by  piece-work, 
and  made  comparatively  good  wages.  Most  of  them  had 
been  there  many  years.  Were  they  of  value  to  the  com- 
pany? Surely.  What  an  odd  question.  Of  course  they 
were  of  value.  They  knew  the  work  as  only  old  hands, 
thoroughly  accustomed  to  that  class  of  work,  would  ever 
know  it.     That,  in  itself,  made  them  of  value. 

Here,  then,  I  had  found  at  last,  I  thought,  some  appre- 
ciation of  capability  born  of  long  service  and  ripe  experi- 
ence. Here  I  might  find  evidence  that  the  Japanese  cap- 
tain of  industry  realised  that  one  particular  atom  in  his 
industrial  cosmos  had  a  peculiar  value  of  its  own. 

I  watched  the  hand-looms  with  increased  interest.     The 


i62  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

work  was  hard.  The  women  were  none  of  them  young  as 
women  go  in  Japan.  One  had  a  couple  of  babies  playing 
about  her  skirts  as  she  worked.  The  work  took  manual 
dexterity  and  physical  strength  of  a  sort,  as  well  as  know- 
ledge and  practice  of  its  technical  points. 

Each  foot  pressed,  alternately,  the  loom  pedals.  Up, 
down,  up,  down.  A  long-distance  bicycle  rider  might 
envy  the  regularity  and  pertinacity  of  that  continued  pedal- 
ling. The  women  worked  from  the  hip,  too,  showing  that 
the  pedal  load  was  sufficiently  heavy  to  require  more  than 
foot-weight.  While  the  feet  were  thus  monotonously  on 
the  move,  one  hand  was  equally  busy  pulling  the  shuttle 
cord. 

The  sharp  jerks  on  this  important  adjunct  to  the  job 
required  the  hand  and  arm  to  be  raised  well  up  to,  or,  in 
one  instance,  above  the  height  of  the  operator's  head.  It 
might  well  fatigue  one  to  stand  and  watch  that  constant 
movement.  That  hand,  in  such  a  position,  jerk,  jerk, 
jerking  away  with  mechanical  precision  at  the  shuttle  cord, 
meant  long  training  to  enable  it  to  keep  up  the  steady 
movement  for  long.  Minutes  passed  as  I  watched,  yet  the 
jerk,  jerk,  jerk  kept  on,  as  if  bent  on  showing  that  the  new- 
fangled electrical  power  devices  were  not  the  only  depend- 
able power  medium  in  those  parts. 

The  two  feet  and  the  left  hand  being  thus  satisfactorily 
accounted  for,  I  watched  the  right  hand  for  a  while.  It 
seemed  busier  than  its  fellow.  It  had  all  manner  of  little 
jobs  continually  under  its  supervision.  Yes,  the  women 
who  worked  those  hand-looms  in  the  habutae  factory  in 
Fukui  were  real  workers,  and  no  mistake.  Well  might 
their  toil  be  appreciated.  Well  might  their  value  as 
workers  be  recognised.  They  were  surely  worth  some- 
thing, individually  and  collectively.  I  had  at  last  found 
labour  that  was  valued  for  the  sake  of  its  productive 
capacity,  I  thought.     And  no  wonder. 

But  as  I  was  soliloquising  thus,  it  occurred  to  me  to 
find  out  what  special  privileges  the  extra-expert  workers 
were  accorded. 

"How  many  hours  in  the  day  do  such  loom  operators 
work  ?  "  I  asked. 

The  foreman  smiled. 

"Their    hours   of   work   vary,"   he    replied.     "At   the 


CONSERVATION    OF    LABOUR    IN    JAPAN  163 

present  time  they  are  working  about  thirteen  hours  per 
day." 

"Do  you  mean  to  say  they  can  l<eep  that  up  for  thirteen 
hours  out  of  twenty-four  and  do  any  work  the  next  day?  " 
I  queried. 

"Indeed  they  can  do  so."  The  foreman  seemed  sur- 
prised that  I  should  ask  the  question.  "The  hours  which 
we  work  the  women  who  operate  these  looms  depend  on 
matters  with  which  they  have  nothing  to  do.  The  work 
hours  depend  on  such  things  as  the  price  of  habutae  and 
the  demand  for  it.  If  the  price  goes  up,  if  orders  are 
brisk,  and  the  office  makes  a  demand  on  me,  I  work 
these  hand-loom  women  as  much  as  fifteen  hours  per  day 
for  a  bit.  They  are  paid  on  a  system  of  piece-work,  so  it 
means  more  money  to  them.  I  can  get  fifteen  hours  of 
work  per  day  out  of  most  of  them." 

"Do  you  not  at  times  defeat  your  own  ends?"  I  asked. 
"  Do  not  the  women  sometimes  crock  up  ?  Do  you  not 
sometimes  find  you  are  destroying  their  capacity  by 
cl^owding  them  too  hard  ?  Is  there  no  limit  to  their 
endurance  ?" 

The  foreman  smiled  again. 

"I  can  work  them  too  hard,  of  course,"  he  admitted. 
"But  they  can  stand  fifteen  hours  per  day  for  quite  a  bit, 
these  women.  Some  of  them  turn  out  inferior  work  if  we 
work  them  too  long  at  a  stretch,  but  we  let  that  sort  go 
when  anyone  has  to  be  dropped." 

"But  how  do  you  keep  up  the  supply?"  I  asked. 
"These  women  surel}'  take  some  training  for  this  work. 
If  you  kill  off  your  labour  along  this  line  how  do  you  fill 
the  gaps  in  the  ranks  ?  " 

Still  the  foreman  smiled. 

"We  are  gradually  dropping  the  hand-looms,"  he  said. 
His  smile  broadened  perceptibly.  "We  will  put  in 
mechanical  looms  throughout  the  factory  one  day." 

I  woke  up  with  a  start.  I  had  dreamed  of  having 
found  a  plant  where  the  Japanese  manufacturer  was  con- 
serving labour,  where  the  value  of  the  individual  worker 
was  appreciated,  where  I  would  for  once  escape  the  oft- 
heard  formula.  "There  are  plenty  more  from  where  these 
workers  came." 

There  is  no  chance  to  say  that  there  are  plenty  more 


i64  THE    FAR    EAST   UNVEILED 

of  the  women  trained  to  work  the  hand-looms.  But 
when  they  are  gone  electricity  will  take  their  place. 
That  was  the  kernel  of  the  little  joke  in  that  particular 
habutae  factory  in  Fukui.  That  was  why  the  foreman 
smiled. 

If  my  memory  serves  me,   there  was  a  smile  on  the 
face  of  the  tiger,  was  there  not  ? 


CHAPTER   XXXIV 

THE  EVOLUTION  OF  THE  JAPANESE  COMMERCIAL  ELEMENT 

"You  ask  too  much  of  the  Japanese  business  man,  you 
Americans,"  said  my  Japanese  friend  one  cool  November 
evening   in  Tokyo. 

He  was  a  man  of  business  in  Japan,  and  a  good  one. 
His  word  was  good,  his  poUcies  sound,  and  his  view  of  the 
world  outside  Japan  was  ail  the  broader  for  ten  years  of  his 
earlier  days  spent  in  the  United  States. 

"Go  back  with  me  to  fifty  years  ago  and  visit  with  me 
the  little  town  where  I  was  born  and  where  I  spent  my 
boyhood.  It  was  a  small  town,  I  suppose,  as  towns  go, 
but  its  five  thousand  souls  were  no  mean  population  in  our 
eyes.  It  was  a  very  provincial  community,  near  no  large 
centre.  For  centuries  it  had  been  self-contained.  My 
great-grandfather  wanted  to  visit  Osaka.  Soldiers  guarded 
the  only  roads  to  the  frontier  of  our  province.  Roads 
were  not  encouraged  in  those  days,  on  the  ground  that  they 
might  assist  the  militarv  operations  of  a  possible  enemy. 
No  member  of  the  community  was  allowed  to  go  outside 
the  province  without  permission  from  the  Daimio.  Thus, 
as  permission  was  most  difficult  to  obtain  and  a  request  for 
it  most  unusual,  the  people  in  my  town  spent  their  lives 
quite  contentedly  within  a  forty-mile  radius  of  their  birth- 
place. But  my  great-grandfather  was  persistent.  After 
two  months  of  constant  effort,  most  politically  applied,  he 
obtained  the  coveted  permission  and  had  the  signal  honour 
of  being  allowed  to  pay  a  forty-eight  hour  visit  to  Osaka. 

"The  Daimio  of  our  province  was  more  powerful  than 
the  Daimio  of  the  neighbouring  province.  Our  jails  held 
no  criminals  we  wanted  to  get  rid  of.  Executions  were 
plentiful  enough,  but  not  all  criminals  were  condemned  to 
death.  Some  were  sentenced  to  be  banished.  Such  were 
taken  to  the  border  of  the  neighbouring  province  and  thrust 
across  to  fare  as  they  might.     The  neighbouring  province, 

165 


i66  THE    FAR    EAST   UNVEILED 

that  of  the  weaker  Daimio,  could  not  return  the  compli- 
ment. The  guards  of  soldiers  on  the  single  road 
prevented. 

"The  life  of  the  communit}-  was  ordered  for  it.  It  had 
little  option  as  to  its  development.  There  were  no  single 
men  or  women.  All  had  to  be  married,  whether  they 
would  or  no.  It  was  all  arranged  for  them.  A  man  was 
put  at  an  occupation  and  stayed  at  it.  He  had  no  choice. 
He  could  not  escape  the  metier  that  had  been  chosen  for 
him.  If  he  became  proficient  as  a  carver  of  wood  or  ivory, 
if  he  became  clever  wnth  the  brush  or  if  he  could  write  really 
fine  poetry,  he  might  by  the  ladder  of  art  climb  above  the 
surroundings  in  which  he  had  been  immured,  but  other- 
wise there  was  no  escape  for  him  of  any  sort. 

"The  large  estates  were  practically  self-supporting. 
The  needs  of  the  people  were  few.  Consequently,  there 
was  little  necessity  and  less  opportunity  for  the  develop- 
ment of  anything  that  might  be  called  commerce,  even  in 
an  elemental  form.  The  commercial  concerns,  such  as 
they  were,  were  ordained  by  the  authoritative  power,  just 
as  other  elements  in  the  daily  life  of  the  people  were 
ordained  and  regulated. 

"The  fan  was  an  article  that  held  a  great  place  in  our 
somewhat  uneventful  existence.  If  you  paid  a  call  on  a 
feast-day  and  gave  or  received  a  present  it  was  alwa3^s  a 
fan.  If  you  visited  the  Daimio,  the  resultant  gift  from  him 
was  always  a  fan.  Wedding  presents  were  fans.  Cere- 
monial presents  were  fans.  Everyone  carried  a  fan. 
Where  the  soldier  carried  two  swords  in  his  sash  or  belt 
the  modest  citizen  carried  his  fan.  To  take  one's  fan  and 
strike  a  fellow-man  was  to  visit  upon  him  the  greatest  insult 
possible.  A  soldier  who  did  not  care  to  dirty  his  sword 
with  the  blood  of  a  dog  of  a  tradesman  might  take  his  fan 
from  the  side  of  his  sash  opposite  to  that  in  which  his 
weapons  were  thrust  and  hit  the  offending  merchant  with  it, 
as  if  to  say,  '  Here  is  a  blow  from  your  own  weapon.  Mine 
is  a  weapon  to  be  used  on  men  only.' 

"A  citizen  of  the  business  class  was  not  given  to  blows. 
Had  he  been  and  had  he  become  sufficiently  enraged  to 
have  pulled  out  his  fan  and  strike  a  fellow-man,  death  alone 
could  wipe  out  the  insult.  As  tradesmen  did  not  hold 
sanguinary  deeds  in  high  esteem,  they  did  not  exchange 


THEfJAPANESE  LCOMMERCIAL   ELEMENT  167 

fan-blows.  For  that  matter,  swords  were  unsheathed  with 
care  in  those  days.  Once  draw  your  sword  on  a  man,  he 
must  die  before  it  could  again  be  sheathed.  If  you  killed 
your  adversary,  honour  demanded  that  you  at  once,  in 
turn,  should  take  your  own  life.  So  drawing  a  sword  was 
better  done  none  too  hastily. 

"There  was  only  one  fan-maker  allowed  in  our  town. 
There  were  two  sweetmeat-makers,  six  brewers,  and  so  on. 
My  father  was  one  of  the  brewers.  All  that  sort  of  thing 
was  strictly  under  the  thumb  of  authority. 

"The  community  was  sharply  divided  as  regarded 
social  class.  First  came  the  soldier;  next  the  man  of  pro- 
ductive ability  like  the  farmer;  third  came  the  carpenter, 
the  constructive  type  and  his  fellow-craftsmen ;  and  fourth 
came  the  business  man,  only  above  the  lowest  class  of  all, 
that  of  the  beggar. 

" '  Shi-Noh-Koh-Shoh,'  ran  the  old  Chinese  saw. 
Soldier,  farmer,  artisan,  tradesman.  That  w^as  the  social 
order  of  the  days  of  fifty  years  ago,  laid  down  by  hard 
and  fast  law  of  mandate  and  usage. 

"The  soldier  was  the  principal  figure  in  the  community. 
He  dominated  the  rest.  If  he  killed  a  business  man  w-ith  a 
stroke  of  his  sword,  he  worried  no  more,  and  was  worried 
no  more  by  others  than  himself,  than  if  he  had  killed  a  dog. 
True,  he  could  not  wantonly  kill  without  some  excuse ;  no 
matter  if  such  excuse  lacked  plausibility.  If  he  took  life 
without  excuse,  whether  his  victim  be  dog  or  business  man, 
he  must  commit  hari-kari ;  he  must  take  his  own  life.  If  a 
business  man  in  a  crowded  street  stepped  on  his  foot  in 
passing,  however,  and  the  soldier  killed  him  with  a  quick 
blow,  as  he  would  probably  do,  he  could  say  in  explana- 
tion, '  The  man  stepped  upon  me.  I  was  affronted.  I 
took  his  life  as  a  matter  of  course.  He  was  a  merchant.' 
That  was  quite  all  that  was  necessary  in  the  way  of  provo- 
cation to  supply  ample  excuse  for  his  action. 

"The  poor  commercial  man  was  kicked  by  ever3'one 
save  solely  the  beggars  themselves.  He  had  no  honour 
and  no  place  in  the  social  scale  to  defend.  He  was  the 
under-dog  in  the  fullest  sense  of  the  word.  When  it  came 
to  the  actual  transaction,  where  money  changed  hands,  he 
was  allowed  a  certain  amount  of  scope  he  otherwise  would 
never  have  had,  from  the  fact  that  the  soldier  considered 


i68  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

himself  above  money  matters.  If  he  went  to  buy  a  fan,  he 
asked  the  price,  of  course,  but  when  he  was  told  what  it 
was,  he  did  not  argue  about  it.  The  merchant,  dog  that 
he  was,  had  to  do  with  matters  of  price  and  value,  it  was 
not  for  the  soldier  to  bother  his  head  about  them.  That 
was  the  soldier's  attitude. 

"So  fifty  years  ago  in  Japan  the  commercial  element 
was  composed  of  a  class  of  men  who  were  well  toward  the 
bottom  of  the  social  life  of  the  community  in  which  they 
/ived,  respected  by  none,  with  no  rights  or  privileges,  with 
no  such  thing  as  honour  because  they  had  no  means  of 
defending  or  asserting  it,  but  allowed,  in  spite  of  all  the 
foregoing,  to  have  their  revenge  at  times  by  being  able  to 
take  advantage  of  a  lack  of  attention  to  business  matters 
on  the  part  of  those  who  were  ever  ready  to  abuse  or 
vilify  them. 

"That  was  only  fifty  years  ago.  Yet  you  wonder  when 
your  English  business  friends  in  the  Far  East  tell  a 
Japanese  business  acquaintance  of  the  serious  defection, 
from  English  standards  of  business  morality,  of  some 
other  Japanese,  that  the  Japanese  acquaintance  does  not 
sympathise  with  the  Englishman.  That  the  Englishman 
has  been  the  victim  of  real  crookedness  from  a  Western 
standpoint  will  not  make  one  Japanese  see  the  action  of 
another  Japanese  in  that  light,  for  the  very  good  reason 
that  but  fifty  years  have  passed,  or  less  than  that,  since  any 
business  man  in  Japan  possessed  any  attributes  of  honesty. 
You  expect  too  much,  if  you  ask  for  a  complete  change  of 
ideals  and  ideas  on  the  part  of  a  class  of  people,  particularly 
Orientals,  in  a  single  generation. 

"Like  most  big  movements  in  civil  life,  one  man  has 
had  much  to  do  with  business  evolution  in  Japan.  One 
man  has  been  back  of  the  movement  in  Japan  for  the  uplift- 
ing of  the  commercial  class.  His  work  has  really  achieved 
something.  You  have  met  Baron  Shibusawa.  You  have 
spoken  of  him  as  the  Grand  Old  Man  of  Japanese  com- 
merce. I  wonder  if  you  know  how  thoroughly  that  is  a 
true  description  of  Baron  Shibusawa. 

"Thirty  years  ago  Baron  Shibusawa  realised  that  in  this 
commercial  age  the  status  of  the  Japanese  business  man 
must  be  put  on  a  better  plane  and  the  business  man  moved 
up  with  it  if  Japanese  were  going  to  hold  tlfoir  own  among 


THE    JAPANESE    COMMERCIAL   ELEMENT  169 

the  nations  of  the  world.  He  worked  incessantly  to  that 
end.  He  was  a  man  of  the  military  class,  at  that  time  the 
second  man  in  the  state  as  regarded  national  financial 
affairs.  Marquis  Inouye  was  at  the  head  of  Government 
finance  and  Baron  Shibusawa  was  his  second  irn  command. 
Baron  Shibusawa  resigned  his  position  and  stepped  down 
from  his  place  to  mix  personally  in  various  business  enter- 
prises. In  a  few  years  he  was  either  managing  director, 
chairman  of  the  board  or  in  some  other  capacity  directing 
the  policy  and  fortunes  of  a  dozen  concerns. 

"He  swung  these  to  prominence  and  by  his  splendid 
personal  example  and  precept  inaugurated  a  new  commer- 
cial era  for  his  fellow-countrymen.  Then  the  tiine  came 
when  he  thought  it  wise  to  step  out  from  all  his  positions 
of  authority  and  leave  the  direction  of  the  affairs  of  his 
companies  to  those  who  had  been  serving  under  and  with 
him.  That  was  the  next  step  in  the  process  of  their 
development.  Baron  Shibusawa  left  all  the  concerns  he 
had  fathered  and  guided  except  the  National  Bank  of 
Tokyo,  the  presidency  of  which  he  still  retains. 

"The  good  he  has  done  will  never  be  forgotten  by  the 
Japanese  business  w^orld.  That  world  is  still  learning- 
still  developing.  It  is  daily  growing  better,  wiser,  more 
broad-minded,  more  to  be  depended  upon.  But  the  pro- 
cess is  slow.     This  is  the  East. 

"So  now  you  will  understand  what  I  mean  when  I  say 
to  you,  do  not  ask  too  much  of  the  Japanese  business  man 
yet.     Give  him  time." 


CHAPTER    XXXV 

THE  GIRLS  OF  THE  COTTON  MILLS 

I  WAS  in  Osaka,  the  great  manufacturing  centre  of  Japan, 
in  November,  19 16,  at  the  time  an  outcry  was  raised  by  the 
Japanese  cotton  industry,  the  spinners  and  weavers  of 
hosiery  and  other  kindred  cotton  products,  at  Great 
Britain's  decision  to  prohibit  the  importation  into  the 
British  Isles  of  foreign  manufactured  goods  in  that  Hne. 

When  I  first  heard  the  word  hosiery  in  this  connection  I 
was  so  ignorant  as  to  imagine  that  it  meant  wearing- 
apparel  for  the  pedal  extremities.  The  amount  of  time  I 
wasted,  one  day,  in  trying  to  discover  how  the  large 
circular  lengths  of  woven  cotton  could  be  turned  into  socks 
and  stockings,  makes  me  blush  at  the  depths  of  ignorance 
to  which  I  had  sunk.  Hosiery,  to  the  initiated,  means 
almost  anything  in  the  way  of  woven  goods  that  may  be 
made  from  cotton  yarn. 

I  visited  a  number  of  hosiery  factories  in  the  vicinity  of 
Osaka,  and  talked  at  length  with  works  managers,  manag- 
ing directors  and  such  folk  about  their  product,  their 
labour  and  the  political  side  of  the  embargo  which  England 
had  imposed. 

The  cotton  goods  business  is  the  only  great  line  of 
manufacturing  industry  in  Japan  that  can  boast  of  so 
thorough  an  organisation,  an  organisation  that  extends 
from  the  man  who  buys  and  ships  from  India  80  per  cent, 
of  the  cotton  that  comes  to  Japan,  through  the  shipping 
concerns  that  carry  it,  through  the  great  mills  of  Japan,  on 
througli  the  exporter,  through  the  railway  and  steamship 
carriers  that  send  it  to  Manchuria,  to  China,  to  Australia, 
to  England,  or  back  to  India  where  the  cotton  comes  from 
and  right  on  through  the  men  that  actually  market  the 
goods.  The  cotton  industry,  or  to  be  exact,  the  cotton 
goods  industry,  in  Japan,  shows  what  the  Japanese  can 
do  and  have  done  in  the  way  of  organisation.     True,  no 

170 


THE    GIRLS    OF    THli:   COTTON    MILLS    171 

other  line  of  industry  or  business  can  show  hke  resuks,  or 
anything-  approaching  them.  But  they  show  what  can  be 
done  by  the  Japanese,  nevertheless. 

Then,  too,  the  cotton  piece  goods  marketed  in  China 
and  Manchuria  by  the  Japanese  have  been  improved  until 
in  the  cheaper  lines  the  stuff  has  been  perfected  wonder- 
fully. Agents  of  Manchester  goods  admit  this.  Bits  of 
cotton  piece  goods  of  Japanese  origin  were  shown  to  me 
by  those  who  competed  against  them  and  declared  to  be  of 
the  first  class  in  their  line.  Japanese  manufacture  in  many 
lines  fails  to  show  such  advance  in  quality,  but  there  is  no 
denying  that  in  the  cotton  piece  goods  Japan  has  more 
than  held  her  own. 

The  machinery  problem  in  Japan  in  connection  with 
the  manufacture  of  hosiery  presented  a  study  in  itself.  So 
did  the  labour  question.  Wages,  hours  of  work,  the 
character  of  employee  utilised,  how  the  employees  lived, 
all  these  things  had  a  side  in  Japan  that  was  so  different 
from  European  and  American  conditions  that  each  merited 
special  attention.  The  political  power  of  the  growing  and 
wonderfully  prosperous  industry,  its  demands  on  its  own 
Government,  particularly  in  connection  with  the  argument 
as  to  the  embargo  on  export  from  Japan  to  Great  Britain, 
had  its  sidelights  from  which  conclusions  and  morals 
could  be  drawn. 

The  great  advantage  of  the  Japanese  spinner  and 
weaver  of  cotton  is  cheap  labour.  ^Iost  of  this  labour  is 
woman  labour.  To  be  absolutely  correct,  most  of  it  is 
girl  labour,  girl-child  labour.  So  a  little  insight  into  how 
the  girl-child  labour  of  the  Japanese  cotton  goods  industry 
is  procured,  how  it  works  and  how  it  lives,  touches  a 
human  aspect  of  the  subject  which  has  a  by  no  means 
unimportant  bearing  on  the  whole  business. 

I  watched  the  Japanese  girls  at  work  in  half  a  dozen  big 
mills.  Their  work  seemed  much  the  same,  wherever  it  was 
performed. 

As  to  the  average  conditions  of  labour  in  the  average 
cotton  mill  in  Osaka,  I  was  told  the  following  by  the  works 
manager  of  one  of  them.  He  said,  "Ours  is  an  old  estab- 
lished business,  from  a  Japanese  standpoint.  We  have 
been  in  existence  for  twcnlv  years.  We  have  several 
mills.     In  this  one  we  operate  50,000  spindles  and  2,200 


172  THE    FAR   EAST  UNVEILED 

looms.  Of  the  spindles  35,000  keep  the  2,200  looms  busy, 
and  the  remaining  15,000  spindles  make  cotton  thread. 
We  employ  in  this  mill  about  3,000  hands,  of  whom  only 
700  are  men." 

As  we  walked  the  dusty,  noisy  length  of  one  room  I 
was  able  to  count  700  looms,  at  which  about  300  women 
were  working.  The  works  manager  said  the  average  age 
of  the  employees  in  that  department  was  fourteen  years. 
That,  in  the  Japanese  way  of  figuring  a  person's  age, 
meant  that  the  girls  averaged  thirteen  3'ears  according  to 
our  way  of  reckoning. 

This  factory,  in  common  with  all  similar  factories  in 
Japan,  worked  day  and  night  for  all  but  two  days  in  the 
month.  Two  shifts  worked  the  spindles.  One  shift  went 
on  at  6  A.M.  and  worked  until  6  p.m.  From  1 1.30  a.m.  until 
12  noon,  time  was  allowed  for  dinner,  and  from  3  p.m.  until 
3.30  P.M.  was  also  allowed  off.  Japan's  new  Factory  Act, 
originally  designed  to  do  away  with  night  labour  so  that 
these  children  could  have  a  fair  chance  in  life,  was 
squelched  by  the  cotton  goods  industry,  so  one  of  its 
leaders  proudly  told  me,  but  one  benefit  to  the  labourers 
crept  through.  That  benefit  had  to  do  with  a  proper 
interval  for  food,  which  was,  under  the  law  as  amended, 
necessarily  given  to  the  workers. 

The  night  shift  began  at  6  p.m.,  and  worked  until  6 
A.M.,  having  two  half-hours  of  rest  out  of  the  twelve.  The 
girls  w^orked  a  fortnight  on  day  shift,  and  a  fortnight  on 
night  shift  alternately.  As  two  days  off  each  month  were 
allowed,  this  interval  made  the  change  of  shift  convenient 
at  that  time.  Night  and  day  shifts  were  paid  the  same 
wages. 

Discussing  w-ages,  I  asked  the  works  manager  if  any 
general  scale  was  recognised  in  the  trade.  Me  said  no, 
but  from  what  he  told  me  later  I  judged  he  misunderstood 
the  meaning  of  my  query.  A  spindle-hand  who  has  had 
three  years'  experience  and  has  thereby  become  quite 
proficient,  gets  a  wage  throughout  the  trade  that  may  fairly 
be  taken  as  a  standard  one.  In  the  average  mill  I  visited 
the  men  hands  averaged  60  sen  (is.  3d.)  per  day,  running 
to  70  sen  (over  is.  5d.)  at  the  top.  The  women  averaged  45 
sen  (nearly  iid.),  though  women  might  earn  70  as  well  as 
the  men   in  special   instances.     I  was  shown  a  table  pro- 


THE    GIRLS    OF    THE    COTTON    MILLS    173 

duced  by  the  Osaka  Chamber  of  Commerce  which  was 
compiled  to  show  the  average  daily  wages  of  textile  workers 
in  Osaka,  men  and  women  together,  for  the  second  half  of 
1915  and  the  first  half  of  1916  comparatively,  setting  forth 
particularly  the  rise  in  the  average  wage  of  such  toilers. 
The  average  in  the  last  half  of  19 15  was  53  sen  (nearly 
IS.  id.)  and  for  the  first  half  of  1916  was  56  sen  (about 
IS  i^d.).  The  workers  who  produced  knitted  goods  aver- 
aged, according  to  this  report,  but  46  sen  (nd.)  per  day 
for  the  last  half  of  1915,  while  they  jumped  to  the  princely 
daily  average  of  69  sen  (about  is.  5d.)  per  day  for  the  first 
half  of  1916,  an  unprecedented  and  to  some  an  alarming 
average. 

The  above  relatively  large  wages  were  paid  to  the  more 
skilled  workers.  Beginners  did  not  get  so  much,  natur- 
ally. For  girls  of  "fourteen  "  (girls  we  should  class  as 
thirteen)  18  sen  (say,  ^Hd.)  to  25  sen  (about  6d.)  was  a  fair 
wage,  so  the  works  manager  said.  These  girls  were  re- 
cruited from  a  very  poor  class.  There  was  abundance  of 
poor  in  Japan  from  whom  to  choose.  The  girls  were  taken 
by  the  mills  on  a  sort  of  three  years'  apprenticeship 
scheme.  They  were  housed  in  dormitories  and  fed  by  the 
company,  which  charged  them  fixed  rates  for  the  food 
supplied. 

"That  lot  of  girls,"  said  the  works  manager,  pointing 
to  a  bevy  of  mere  youngsters  working  on  a  long  row  of 
spindles,  "get  18  sen  (4%d.)  to  20  sen  (under  5d.)  per  day. 
They  get  their  three  meals  each  day  from  us,  and  we  make 
a  charge  of  9  sen  (just  over  2d.)  a  day,  which  pays  for 
food  and  includes  their  sleeping  accommodation.  We 
have  about  2,000  such  girls  in  one  dormitorv,  or  set  of 
dormitories.  The  men  are  fed  on  the  same  general  scheme, 
but  have  to  pay  about  12  sen  (just  under  3d.)  for  their 
meals.  The  girls  begin  to  be  of  some  use  after  three 
months'  training,  but  most  of  them  work  eighteen  months 
before  one  could  call  them  number  one  hands." 

We  were  passing  from  a  room  containing  1,000  looms 
in  25  rows,  to  an  adjoining  one  containing  500  looms.  It 
was  a  busy  sight.  Every  girl  was  hard  at  work.  The 
noise  was  incessant  and  the  dust  thick. 

"You  say  you  get  these  girls  from  their  homes  on  a 
sort  of  three  years'  agreement?  "  I  asked. 


174  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

"Yes,"  the  works  manager  replied.  "But  they  do  not 
by  any  means  stay  three  years.  The  average  only  stay 
about  eighteen  months  or  so.  Plenty  of  them  go  after  ten 
months'  work.  We  have  some  difficulty  to  keep  them. 
But  there  are  always  plenty  more  where  they  came  from," 
and  he  shrugged  his  shoulders  as  if  it  really  mattered  very 
little  whether  they  went  or  stayed. 

What  with  the  noise  and  the  dust,  the  long  hours  and 
the  night  shifts,  I  thought  I  could  understand  their  going 
before  the  three  years  were  concluded.  I  watched  them 
closely.  I  saw  very  little  real  intelligence  on  the  average 
face.  They  were  truly  the  cannon-fodder  of  Japan's  indus- 
trial war.  Less  than  five  English  pence  per  day  many  of 
them  were  paid,  and  half  of  that  went  for  their  food. 
Perhaps  it  was  a  mercy  the}'^  worked  twelve  hours  of  each 
twenty-four  and  had  but  two  days  off  out  of  each  month. 
If  they  had  more  leisure  they  might  find  time  to  become 
dissatisfied  ! 


CHAPTER    XXXVI 

FACTORIES    AND    FACTORY    DORMITORIES 

When  I  first  started  visiting  the  industrial  factories  in 
Osaka,  I  was  under  the  general  guidance  of  the  Osaka 
Chamber  of  Commerce.  The  Ministry  of  Commerce, 
through  the  department  ably  headed  by  Mr.  Oka,  the 
director  of  the  up-to-date  and  enterprising  Museum  of 
Commerce  established  in  Tokyo  by  the  Japanese  Govern- 
ment, had  very  kindly  provided  me  with  a  circular  letter  to 
Japanese  manufacturers  in  general.  This  letter  proved  a 
key  to  most  closed  factory  doors. 

Before  going  to  Osaka,  however,  Baron  Shibusawa  had 
given  me  a  letter  to  the  President  of  the  Osaka  Chamber 
of  Commerce.  Had  I  known  how  much  of  my  time  the 
presentation  of  that  letter  and  the  events  that  followed  in 
consequence  would  lose  for  me,  I  would  have  kept  it  tightly 
locked  in  my  dispatch  case.  Had  the  kind  gentleman  who 
gave  it  to  me  known  much  about  the  Osaka  Chamber  of 
Commerce,  I  doubt  if  he  would  have  given  me  the  letter  in 
the  first  place. 

The  President  of  the  Osaka  Chamber  was  in  Tokyo 
when  I  reached  Osaka.  Consequently,  a  young  Japanese, 
whose  card  declared  that  he  was  the  English  Secretary  of 
the  Osaka  Chamber  of  Commerce,  was  my  particular 
affliction.  Just  what  I  had  done  that  an  unkind  Providence 
should  have  visited  that  Japanese  young  man  upon  me,  I 
have  not  yet  been  able  to  decide.  It  must  have  been  some- 
thing pretty  bad.  He  spoke  English  sufficiently  well,  if 
he  wanted  to  do  so.  He  understood  English,  too,  when 
he  put  what  he  no  doubt  would  have  called  his  mind  on 
what  was  being  said  to  him.  We  are  told  distinctly  by  the 
Scriptures  not  to  call  a  man  a  fool.     So  I  will  not. 

To  this  young  man  fell  the  duty  of  looking  over  the  list 
of  Japanese  industrial  plants  of  one  sort  and  another,  a  list 
that   I   had  most   laboriously  compiled,   and   discovering, 

175 


176  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

without  undue  delay,  that  it  was  not  allowed  that  I  should 
make  a  tour  of  inspection  of  the  places  I  most  wished  to 
see.  That  was  the  only  part  of  his  job  in  which  he  estab- 
lished anything-  like  a  record.  He  could  find  the  way 
barred,  or  find  a  way  to  bar  the  way,  just  as  one  might 
put  it,  to  any  factory  in  Osaka  I  might  choose  to  mention. 

In  time  I  learned  how  to  handle  the  situation.  I  first 
went  where  he  wished  to  go.  We  saw  nothing  of  interest. 
We  lost  most  of  an  afternoon  working  hard  to  keep  from 
running  across  a  couple  of  places  I  was  most  anxious  to 
find. 

Later  I  demanded  that  he  tell  my  chauffeur  to  go  to 
some  of  the  places  that  had  refused  me,  through  the 
medium  of  a  letter  to  him,  adrriission  to  their  premises. 
The  factory  folk,  as  I  surmised  would  be  the  case,  dis- 
covered that  it  was  a  very  different  matter  to  bar  me  when 
I  appeared  in  person.  When  they  discovered  that  the  in- 
dividual who  wished  to  see  their  plant  was  merely  a  bland, 
always  smiling  (a  smile  took  a  bit  of  concentration  at  times) 
imperturbable,  fat,  certainly  harmless  man  with  a  some- 
what annoying  penchant  for  asking  foolish  questions,  the 
answers  to  some  of  the  most  simple  of  which  he  pondered 
over  and  discussed  and  made  the  basis  for  a  lot  of  still 
more  foolish  questions,  they  very  wisely  decided  that  the 
easiest  way  to  get  rid  of  me  was  to  humour  me  a  bit.  And 
they  did.  I  thank  them  for  it.  I  went  to  them  in  no 
unfriendly  spirit.     I  was  merely  frankly  inquisitive. 

Every  man  who  has  tried  to  go  about  Japanese  indus- 
trial plants  quickly  learns  two  cardinal  facts.  Firstly,  the 
Japanese  are  no  different  from  the  people  of  any  other 
nation,  in  that  they  are  always  ready  and  willing  to  show 
people  their  new  and  up-to-date  factories,  and  that  they 
very  naturally  dislike  to  show  to  outsiders  those  of  their 
plants  that  are  housed  in  old,  tumbledown  buildings,  are 
crowded  out  of  all  conscience,  or  possess  other  like  attri- 
butes that  make  the  owners  rather  ashamed  of  the  place. 
I  think  it  is  interesting  to  see  both  sorts  of  places,  and  I 
did  so. 

Secondly,  Japan  is  a  new  country  as  regards  manufac- 
ture. It  is  a  long  way  from  other  manufacturing  countries. 
It  is  very  childlike  about  some  things  and  very  childish 
about  others.     At  once  the  observer  in  Japan  comes  into 


FACTORIES  AND  FACTORY  DORMITORIES  177 

touch  with  an  odd  idea  that  much  is  secret  which  in  any 
other  country  would  never  be  so  considered.  Some  of  the 
secrets  of  one  trade  into  which  I  probed  a  bit  were  truly 
uproariously  funny.  They  may  have  been  secrets  in  a 
bygone  age  in  England,  but  certainly  not  since.  The 
Japanese  are  not  only  great  imitators,  but  intensely  dislike 
being  imitated.  They  are  always  trying  to  patent  some- 
thing which  they  see  some  European  or  American  firm 
bring  out,  in  an  earnest  and  sometimes  not  unsuccessful 
endeavour  to  keep  their  fellow-Japanese  from  imitating  it. 
That,  incidentally,  this  little  game  sometimes  results  in  the 
Japanese  adopter  of  the  foreign  idea  trying  to  prohibit  the 
foreign  originator  of  the  idea  from  marketing  the  goods  in 
Japan,  even  though  a  business  in  that  line  has  been  built 
up  in  Japan  at  some  effort  and  expense,  is  only  by  the  way. 

At  one  time  straw  hats  made  in  Japan  were  finished 
with  a  plaited  edge.  English-made  straw  hats  came  to 
Japan  in  the  ordinary  course  of  trade  with  the  edge  of  the 
brim  finished  in  the  familiar  (to  us)  saw-tooth  pattern.  A 
year  or  more  passed.  The  idea  drifted  into  the  mind  of  a 
Japanese  manufacturer  of  straw  hats  who  had  seen  the 
European  article  exhibited  for  a  couple  of  seasons  in  the 
show  windows  in  Yokohama  and  Tokyo,  and  out  he  came 
with  a  patent  by  means  of  which  he  not  only  made  a  fight 
against  any  and  all  of  his  Japanese  competitors  who  dared 
essay  the  manufacture  of  a  straw  hat  with  a  saw-tooth  brim, 
but  against  the  English  importers  as  well.  At  first  he 
seemed  likely  to  prove  successful,  but  the  British  Commer- 
cial Attach^  in  Japan,  the  indefatigible  Mr.  Crowe,  took  up 
the  cudgels  on  behalf  of  the  English  importer  and  managed 
to  beat  the  Japanese  hat  man.  So,  thanks  to  Mr.  Crowe's 
efforts,  certain  goods  manufactured  in  England,  which  had 
been  sold  in  Japan  for  a  year  or  two,  could  still  be  sold 
in  Japan  without  a  royalty  being  paid  to  a  rival  Japanese 
firm.     It  was  quite  a  victory. 

Let  me  warn  the  intending  visitor  to  Osaka,  great  city 
that  it  is,  that  it  proved  a  difficult  thing  to  find  a  man  in 
Osaka  who  spoke  English. 

One    morning    I    went    into    many    establishments    in 

Osaka,  smiled  at  whoever  came  first  and  asked  for  someone 

who  spoke  English.     In  vain.     We  were  in  the  heart  of 

the  city,   too.     I  got  into  the  habit  of  asking  passers-by, 

M 


178  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

many  of  whom  wore  European  clothing.  In  vain.  Signs 
in  English  in  front  of  a  place  of  business  were,* I  found, 
no  surety  that  English  was  spoken  within.  At  last  I  found 
a  very  polite  Japanese  gentleman  in  the  Singer  Sewing 
Machine  agency  who  spoke  English  fluently.  1  asked  him 
the  way  to  the  American  Consulate.  There  was  no  such 
thing  in  Osaka,  he  informed  me.  The  British  Consulate? 
Yes,  he  could  send  the  driver  there.  He  did.  He  said  the 
Consulate  was  only  half  a  mile  distant.  But  we  had  not 
taken  my  chauffeur  thoroughly  into  consideration.  I  was 
fifty-five  minutes  finding  the  British  Consulate.  We  were 
trying  all  the  time,  too. 

The  Vice-consul,  Mr.  White,  was  very  kind.  He  tried 
hard  to  get  an  interpreter  for  me.  No  one  in  the  Con- 
sulate, save  himself,  spoke  English.  He  telephoned  to 
the  hotel.  The  hotel  proprietor  promised  to  send  about 
Osaka  and  see  if  he  could  procure  an  interpreter.  Mr. 
White  tried  an  exporting  house,  an  English  concern,  to  see 
if  we  could  borrow  an  interpreter  or  a  clerk  who  could  act 
as  such.  It  was  all  in  vain.  With  over  a  million  Japanese 
in  Osaka,  many  of  them  busy  working  on  goods  for 
English  markets,  we  could  not  get  an  interpreter  on  such 
short  notice.  So  I  went,  at  Mr.  White's  suggestion,  by 
myself.  I  went  to  a  factory  where  MV.  White  knew  that 
the  works  manager  spoke  quite  a  little  English.  It  was 
a  factory  which  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  man  had  said 
had  refused  to  let  me  pay  it  a  visit.  I  visited  it,  saw  it  from 
one  end  to  the  other,  and  learned  much  of  interest  from  it. 

At  a  cotton  hosiery  factory,  a  factory  which  produced 
woven  shirting,  I  visited  one  of  the  workgirls'  dormitories. 
To  reach  this  place  we  ran  out  to  the  edge  of  Osaka.  Once 
out  of  the  city  proper,  the  road  proved  very  bad.  At  times 
it  became  a  mere  dirt  lane,  winding  between  ditches  full  of 
stagnant  water  or  wet  rice  paddies.  The  country  folk  were 
busy  here  and  there  gathering  rice  at  the  narrow  roadside. 
More  than  once  the  car  had  to  run  over  the  piles  of  grain 
on  the  straw  mats  spread  in  the  path.  Nothing  could  be 
more  primitive  than  the  current  method  of  garnering  the 
rice.  The  stench  was  overpowering  at  intervals.  In  one 
of  the  villages  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  man  held  his 
nose  with  his  fingers  when  we  paused  for  a  moment  to  ask 
the  way. 


FACTORIES  AND  FACTORY  DORMITORIES  179 

The  approach  to  ihe  factory  site  must  have  been  abso- 
lutely impossible  for  a  motor-car  in  wet  weather.  A  motor- 
lorry  could  not  have  travelled  the  primitive  path  in  the 
driest  of  seasons. 

The  factory  had  been  built  but  three  years.  A  spur  of 
railway  line  led  to  it  from  a  near-by  branch  railroad.  The 
buildings  and  the  whole  place  looked  quite  new.  The 
actual  lactory  plant  was  composed  of  one-storey  sheds 
with  saw-tooth  roofs,  quite  in  the  latest  accepted  design. 
Twenty  thousand  spmdles  were  operated  in  the  works,  we 
were  told,  and  a  little  more  than  a  thousand  hands  were 
employed,  almost  all  of  them  girls,  and  very  young  girls 
too. 

As  we  walked  from  the  office  toward  the  works  proper, 
after  the  usual  preliminaries,  we  passed  a  few  score  girls 
at  play  in  the  open  yard.  They  were  skipping  or  watching 
others  do  so.  They  seemed  absurdly  young.  That  lot 
were  of  the  night  shift,  I  was  told,  girls  who  were  having 
a  little  recreation  after  their  day  of  sleep.  They  had  come 
off  duty  at  six  o'clock  that  morning,  after  working  for 
twelve  hours  with  two  half-hour  intervals,  eleven  hours  of 
actual  night  labour  at  no  light  tasks. 

They  looked  surprisingly  well  on  it. 

We  made  a  cursory  inspection  of  the  plant.  There  was 
nothing  unusual  about  it.  In  some  departments  most  of 
the  machinery  was  English.  After  looking  over  the  raw 
cotton  we  came  to  the  rows  on  rows  of  spindles.  Here 
the  girl  labour  again  struck  me  as  being  absurdly  young. 
I  could  not  believe  that  the  bulk  of  the  girls  in  one  group 
were  a  day  over  ten  years  of  age,  though  I  was  repeatedly 
assured  that  most  of  them  were  thirteen  years  old. 

"What  do  you  pay  them  a  day?  "  I  asked. 

"Their  wages  run  from  20  sen  (under  ^d.)  to  35  sen 
(say  SVzd.)  per  day,"  was  the  reply.  "We  get  them  here 
on  a  two-years'  contract." 

As  we  reached  the  weaving  machines  I  found  the  plant 
contained  a  considerable  amount  of  both  German  and 
American  machinery,  the  latter  but  a  year  old.  The 
youngsters  were  quaintly  curious.  It  was  apparently 
quite  an  innovation,  a  visit  from  a  foreigner.  The  little 
girls  crowded  round  more  like  babies  than  workwomen. 
They  were  all  eyes,   and  such  mere  kiddies  I  could  not 


i8o  •   THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

believe  them  over  ten,  shoals  of  them,  in  spite  of  evidence 
to  the  contrary. 

They  looked  astonishingly  bright  and  healthy,  most  of 
them,  though  in  every  group  there  was  a  wistful  little  face, 
dull  with  weariness  or  ill-health,  that  reminded  one  that 
these  mites  were  worked  eleven  hours  out  of  the  twenty- 
four  for  six  days  each  week.  For  one  week  they  worked 
during  the  day  and  for  the  next  week  they  worked  during 
the  night.  Whether  they  worked  on  night  or  day  shift 
they  put  in  the  full  eleven  hours  of  toil  and  received  the 
same  rate  of  pay. 

"The  girls  live  on  the  premises,  do  they  not?  "  I  asked. 

"Certainly,"  was  the  reply.  "They  are  given  very 
good  accommodation.  The  dormitories  for  them  are  new 
and  very  good.  They  pay  the  company  lo  sen  (nearly 
2j^d.)  per  day  for  their  three  meals  and  are  charged 
nothing  for  their  sleeping  and  living  quarters." 

Less  than  sixpence  each  day,  many  of  these  hard- 
working tots  earned,  and  well  toward  half  of  their  wages 
w^ent  to  the  company  for  their  board  and  room,  if  one 
might  call  it  that. 

I  waxed  facetious.  I  asked  soberly  how  the  girls  of 
such  type  spent  their  surplus  money.  Did  they  have  to 
buy  much  in  the  way  of  clothing?  Not  much,  soberly 
came  the  reply.  I  said  I  did  not  think  they  would  have  a 
big  surplus  out  of  their  ten  sen  per  day  after  their  clothes 
were  bought,  but  I  supposed  some  frugal  ones  w'ere  found. 
Did  they  spend  their  money  on  adorning  themselves,  or 
did  they  spend  their  spare  cash  on  sweets,  or  what  did  they 
do  with  it  ?  Some,  I  supposed,  might  contribute  to  the 
expenses  of  the  paternal  home.  Yes,  I  w^as  told,  some  did 
spend  their  money  on  sweets  and  some  spent  it  on  personal 
adornment.  The  company  provided  a  store  on  the 
premises  for  all  such  emergencies.  Not  that  the  Japanese 
gentlemen  called  them  emergencies.  He  was  very  serious 
about  it. 

Finally,  resolved  to  track  to  the  bitter  end  the  remnants 
of  that  threepence  per  day  or  what  was  left  of  it  after  the 
recipient  had  provided  herself  wnth  a  wardrobe,  had 
squandered  a  bit  on  gew-gaws  and  possibly  succumbed  to 
the  tempting  lollipops  in  the  company  store,  I  said,  "I 
suppose  there  are  some  girls  that  save  money,  are  there 


FACTORIES  AND  FACTORY  DORMITORIES  i8i 

not?     What  do  they  do  with  their  hoards?     Do  they  put 
their  money  in  the  bani<  ?  " 

"No,"  answered  my  informant.  "If  they  have  any 
money  over,  that  they  do  not  spend,  the  company  will 
always  take  care  of  it  for  them." 

That  was  it,  then.  The  beneficent  company  was  always 
at  hand.  It  took  them  from  their  cots,  if  they  had  any, 
almost  from  their  mothers'  arms,  bound  them  to  labour  for 
the  period  of  two  years,  stuck  them  at  it  for  eleven  hours 
(day  and  night  alternately)  out  of  every  weekday,  charged 
them  almost  half  of  their  sixpence  per  day  for  their  keep, 
provided  a  company  store  to  catch  their  odd  pennies,  half- 
pennies, farthings,  or  what  not,  and  then,  if  there  hap- 
pened to  be  a  bit  that  slipped  through,  looked  after  it  for 
them. 

One  thing  more  in  that  connection  I  wanted  to  know. 
How  much  of  an  eye  did  the  Japanese  Government  keep  on 
all  this  ?  Not  much  eye,  if  what  I  was  told  was  true.  The 
Government  called  sometimes,  through  the  medium  of 
rather  subordinate  folk,  and  inspected  the  factories  and 
dormitories  from  the  standpoint  of  sanitary  matters.  That 
was  all.  The  company  was  a  private  company.  It  did  not 
publish  a  balance  sheet.  Its  profits  were  only  known  to 
its  shareholders,  perhaps  not  to  all  of  them,  for  aught  I 
could  see.  I  asked  repeatedly  if  the  company  had  to  make 
any  accounting  with  reference  to  what  it  charged  its  em- 
ployees for  food  or  }odging ;  what  it  gave  them  for  the 
money  it  collected  from  them  in  payment  for  such  food 
and  sleeping  accommodation  ;  what  it  sold  the  tots,  who 
could  go  nowhere  else  to  buy ;  or  what  it  did  wMth  the 
money  the  thrifty  savers  hoarded  in  the  company's  hands, 
the  money  the  company  "looked  after,"  to  use  its  director's 
expression.  He  was  not  only  quite  sure  the  Government 
did  not  bother  its  head  about  such  matters,  but  gave  me 
very  clearly  to  understand  that  he  was  very  far  from  seeing 
the  point  of  view  which  would  have  considered  the  possi- 
bility of  such  a  thing. 

Later,  when  talking  of  the  factory's  advantages,  he 
mentioned  in  the  same  category  the  low  rental  of  the 
property,  the  spur  of  track  so  near  a  main  railway  line, 
and  the  fact  that  the  employees  were  well  away  bv  them- 
selves.    I  think  he  honestly  thought  the  company  store  an 


i82  THE   FAR    EAST   UNVEILED 

unmixed  blessing  to  the  girls.     Perhaps  it  was.     In  fair- 
ness one  ought  to  admit  that. 

I  had  seen  so  little  of  unusual  interest  in  the  actual 
factory  that  when  we  had  finished  our  tour  of  inspection 
and  I  was  about  to  be  most  politely  bow^d  into  our  waiting 
car,  I  decided  that  I  would  see  one  of  the  dormitories  where 
the  factory  mites  lived.  Here  was  a  good  opportunity. 
This  was  a  new  place,  a  place  whose  director  had  boasted 
of  the  accommodation  provided  for  his  girls.  Why  not 
see  it  ? 

The  proposition  was  not  cordially  received,  and  I  was 
given  to  understand  by  the  little  Chamber  of  Commerce 
man  that  it  really  was  not  done  in  the  best  circles,  or 
words  to  that  effect.  But  I  was  smiling,  obtuse  and  quite 
unconvinced.  I  acted  as  though  I  was  sure  they  really 
wanted  me  to  see  the  dormitor}^  It  was  just  their  modesty, 
I  suggested  to  my  cicerone.  Never  mind  what  they  said. 
Come  on  !  Thev  had  to  come,  or  let  me  go  alone.  They 
got  to  the  foot  of  a  stair  that  led  to  a  sort  of  raised  cause- 
way between  the  works  and  the  dormitories,  and  there  said 
rather  hopelessly  that  I  would  have  to  remove  my  shoes  if 
I  went  further.  Quite  so.  My  shoes  were  off  in  a  jiffy. 
They  abandoned  resistance  then,  and  we  went  through. 
Sometimes  I  followed  them,  sometimes  they  followed  me. 

All  Japanese  dwellings  look  bare  to  European  or 
Western  eyes.  The  place  was  clean  enough.  It  was 
large,  of  course.  It  had  to  be  large  to  house  nearly  one 
thousand  girls.  The  sleeping-rooms  were  not  very  big. 
The  average  room  of  that  sort  contained  fourteen  mats, 
neat,  cool-looking  things,  that  provided  a  place  for  eighteen 
girls  to  sleep.  I  think  one  of  the  eighteen  could  hardly 
come  in  late  and  get  into  the  middle  of  the  room  without 
waking  up  the  rest.  Rows  of  kimonos  hung  on  the  walls. 
Each  group  of  three  or  four  such  sleeping-rooms  had  a 
dressing-room  assigned  to  it.  The  dressing-rooms 
measured  eight  feet  by  ten.  They  were  innocent  of  any 
furnishing  whatever,  save  for  three  cheap  and  by  no  means 
large  looking-glasses.  Near  each  dressing-room  w'as 
another  eight  by  ten  room  containing  a  trough,  thereby 
declaring  itself  a  wash-room  for  anywhere  from  fifty  to  a 
hundred  girls.  On  the  lower  floor  was  a  stone  bath,  six 
feet  wide  by  sixteen  feet  long. 


FACTORIES  AND  FACTORY  DORMITORIES   183 

A  schoolroom  was  shown  me.  It  liad  evidently  not 
held  a  class  for  some  time.  The  windows  were  dark  with 
an  accumulation  of  dirt  of  some  standing.  One  larger 
room  contained  a  shrine.  A  Buddhist  priest  came  to  the 
dormitories  once  each  month  to  hold  service. 

What  did  they  do  to  maintain  order,  I  asked.  Nothing, 
was  the  answer.  But  surely  sometimes  the  younger  ones 
got  out  of  hand  ?  Did  they  always  act  like  grown-ups, 
these  kiddies?  Did  they  find  no  necessity  for  matrons, 
or  at  least  monitors,  among  the  girls  themselves?  Not  a 
bit.  The  director  was  most  decided  about  that.  The  girls 
never  made  a  noise.  They  never  played  when  they  should 
go  to  sleep.  They  were  generally  tired  when  rest  time 
came.  I  had  forgotten  that  eleven  hours  of  work  out  of 
every  twenty-four.  I  had  forgotten  that  these  mites  were 
not  really  kiddies.  They  were  workwomen.  They  were 
the  backbone  of  the  cotton-goods  industry  of  Japan.  One 
had  to  remember  that,  of  course. 

The  dispensary  looked  businesslike.  So  did  the  hos- 
pital. The  latter  particularly  so,  as  it  was  fairly  full. 
Poor,  little,  white,  wan  faces  looked  wistfully  from  the  rude 
cots.     The  Juggernaut  had  caught  some  of  the  little  ones. 

That  is  what  I  saw  in  those  dormitories.  Not  much, 
perhaps.  No,  not  much.  Not  much  was  there  to  see. 
Just  that  the  little  toilers,  the  girls  of  the  cotton  mills, 
are  packed  in  like  sardines  and  live  their  sleeping  hours, 
and  those  of  their  waking  ones  when  they  are  not  at  loom 
or  spindle,  in  the  barest  of  bare,  cold,  meagre  surroundings. 

But  that  is  Japanese,  says  the  man  who  knows  Japan. 

The  whole  thing  is  Japanese. 

Very  Japanese  indeed. 


CHAPTER    XXXVIl 

ANOTHER  BEEHIVE  OF  INDUSTRY 

When  I  was  in  Sydney  in  the  spring  of  1916  I  made 
the  acquaintance  of  the  very  able  and  obliging  Japanese 
Consul-General  there.  Mr.  Shimidzu  was  once  the 
Japanese  consular  representative  in  Chicago. 

My  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Shimidzu  did  not  extend 
over  a  very  long  period,  but  I  saw  enough  of  him  to 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  he  was  a  close  and  earnest 
student  of  Australian  matters  that  might  prove  of  vahie 
to  his  countrymen. 

I  saw  a  report  made  by  Mr.  Shimidzu  in  19 16. 
Japanese  products,  Mr.  Shimidzu 's  report  declared,  were 
very  unpopular  in  Australia,  chiefly  owing  to  their  inferior 
quality.  The  demand  for  enamelled  iron  ware,  Mr. 
Shimidzu  said,  was  increasing  among  the  families  of  the 
Australian  working  classes.  The  war  having  stopped  the 
importation  of  English  and  German  enamelled  ware,  the 
Japanese  products  found  no  difficulty  in  gaining  an  imme- 
diate opening.  Close  on  the  heels  of  the  advent  of  the 
Japanese  goods  in  this  line,  however,  came  voluminous 
complaints  that  the  goods  were  inherently  bad. 

It  was  alleged  in  Australia,  went  on  Mr.  Shimidzu, 
that  some  of  the  Japanese  enamelled  ware  was  so  hurriedly 
or  faultily  made  that  holes  in  the  pieces  were  no  bar  to 
the  pieces  being  patched  up  and  run  through.  In  some 
instances,  people  said,  such  holes  were  found  to  have  been 
filled  with  lead  and  the  enamelled  process  proceeded  with 
in  due  course.  Naturally,  the  goods  looked  right  enough, 
but  when  exposed  to  the  heat  of  a  good  fire,  the  lead 
melted  and  the  good  Australian  housewife  felt  swindled. 
Even  in  the  whole  pieces,  unpatched  with  lead,  faulty 
manufacture  resulted  in  easily  cracked  enamel,  rendering 
the  goods  worthless. 

So  much  for  the  enamelled  ware. 

184 


ANOTHER    BEEHIVE    OF    INDUSTRY      185 

Mr.  Shimidzu's  report  did  not  stop  there.  It  dealt 
with  Japanese  cotton  undershirts  that,  when  washed, 
shrunk  so  that  they  were  made  unwearable;  of  Japanese 
carpenters'  and  mechanics'  tools  that  broke  under  slight 
strain ;  of  6,000  pocket  electric  lamps,  manufactured  in 
Japan  and  guaranteed  for  six  months,  1,982  of  which  were 
found,  on  arrival  in  Australia,  to  be  worthless;  and  other 
little  home  truths  for  Japan's  captains  of  industry. 
Finally,  said  Mr.  Shimidzu,  many  Australian  shop- 
keepers, in  order  to  sell  Japanese  goods,  found  it  necessary 
to  label  them  with  legends  craftily  declaring  that  the 
articles  were  made  in  England  or  America. 

Foreign  critics  are  not  the  only  ones,  I  thought  when 
I  read  that  report,  who  have  hard  things  to  say  about 
the  ways  that  are  dark  and'lhe  tricks  that  are  darker  in 
commercial  Japan. 

Mr.  Shimidzu's  remarks  about  the  Japanese  enamelled 
ware  seemed  the  most  concrete  sort  of  complaint  to  which 
to  tie  some  casual  investigation,  so  I  planned  a  visit  to  the 
sort  of  place  in  Osaka  that  would  be  likely  to  be  turning 
out  goods  of  enamelled  ware. 

I  was  told  that  one  of  the  most  typical  factories  for 
the  manufacture  of  enamelled  ware  was  a  comparatively 
small  place,  as  factories  go.  From  what  I  could  learn, 
most  makers  of  enamelled  ware  were  producing  their 
goods  from  comparatively  small  plants  in  Osaka. 

That  factory  was  not  easy  to  find.  The  plant  was 
housed  in  anything  but  up-to-date  quarters.  The  pro- 
prietor was  there.  He  was  a  rather  young  Japanese  to 
have  so  extensive  a  business  as  his  proved  to  be.  He  was 
tall,  as  Japanese  go,  quite  dark,  had  a  black  moustache 
and  very  attentive,  bright  black  eyes.  He  was  a  sharp 
chap,  I  could  see  that.  He  was  what  some  of  my  own 
countrymen  would  call  a  real  hustler.  A  little  hard 
about  the  eyes,  perhaps.  A  little  hard,  there.  But  a 
hustler. 

He  had  four  factories  in  all,  he  said.  He  could  not 
speak  English,  so  a  Japanese  I  had  re-christened  "The 
Encumbrance  "  did  the  interpreting.  Slow  work  it  was, 
too.  Transmission  of  ideas  through  such  a  medium  is 
slow  work  indeed.  Words  were  easv  enough.  The 
Encumbrance  spoke  English.     But  ideas  were  a  different 


i86  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

matter.  Ideas  were  not  his  long  suit.  I  won  through 
in  time,  though,  by  just  keeping  at  it  until  I  got  home. 

Three  hundred  and  fifty  hands  were  employed  in  his 
four  factories,  the  proprietor  told  me.  The  plant  I  was 
visiting  was  his  largest  single  one.  He  kept  150  employees 
busy  there.  I  was  in  the  littered  cubby-hole  of  an  office, 
crowded  to  suffocation  by  the  half-dozen  clerks,  when  he 
told  me  this.  He  was  literally  correct,  I  found,  when  we 
walked  through  the  works  a  few  moments  later.  But,  for 
that  matter,  a  man  with  those  black  eyes  was  likely  to 
keep  his  workfolk  busy.     He  was  a  hustler,  sure  enough. 

"What  sort  of  turnover  do  you  have  in  the  course  of 
a  year  ?  "  I  asked. 

"We  will  just  run  over  the  million  yen  for  1916,  I 
think,"  was  the  reply. 

Not  bad,  that.  Over  one  hundred  thousand  pounds 
sterling  worth  of  the  cheapest  sort  of  enamelled  ware 
turned  out  in  four  ramshackle  works,  employing  three 
hundred  and  fifty  hands.  Not  bad,  if  it  was  correct.  I 
think,  from  what  I  learned  elsewhere  later,  that  it  was 
correct. 

"For  what  market  do  you  manufacture?"  was  my 
next  question. 

"The  export  market,"  the  proprietor  said.  Most  of 
his  product  went  to  China  and  to  India. 

I  asked  if  his  raw  material,  his  iron,  came  from  Japan. 
Sheet  iron  was  an  unknown  commodity  so  far  as  The 
Encumbrance  was  concerned,  apparently.  I  laboured 
long  over  that  query.  The  answer  was  forthcoming 
readily  enough,  when  the  idea  filtered  through,  eventually, 
to  the  manufacturer.  No,  he  did  not  get  any  of  his 
sheet  iron  from  Japan.  It  all  came  from  England  when 
he  could  get  the  English  article.  Otherwise,  from 
America.  But  the  English  sheet  iron  was  what  he  de- 
pended upon,  he  averred. 

We  left  the  office  and  went  along  a  narrow  path  between 
two  walls  of  galvanised  iron.  The  path  was  lumbered 
with  piles  of  debris  and  material,  which  to  my  eyes  seemed 
inextricably  mixed. 

We  stepped  over  some  of  the  closely  crowded,  seated 
packers  and  picked  our  way  gingerly  through  piles  of 
finished  plates,   bowls,  and  cups  on  which  they  were  at 


ANOTHER    BEEHIVE    OF   INDUSTRY      187 

work.  The  packers  were  women,  and  girls,  and  babies. 
Some  of  the  babies  slept.  One  squalled.  One  tot  of  three 
or  four  was  soberly  helping  his  mother,  or  trying  to  do  so. 
Many  little  girls,  dingy  with  the  dust  and  dirt,  were  in 
that  department.  They  were  of  all  ages,  some  not  a  day 
over  ten  years  old,  if  indeed  they  were  not  younger. 

The  working  hours  were  from  six  to  six,  with  time  off, 
which  usually  amounted  to  about  an  hour.  Two  days  in 
the  month  were  holidays.  Sometimes  overtime  was 
worked.  When  there  was  a  rush  order  to  get  through, 
the  same  staff  were  pushed  a  bit  harder  and  worked  a  bit 
longer.  There  was  no  night  shift.  From  what  the  pro- 
prietor said  I  judged  a  little  scientific  pushing  increased 
the  output,  if  the  need  arose,  without  any  addition  to  the 
working  staff.  He  was  a  hustler,  a  real,  thorough,  dyed- 
in-the-wool  hustler,  that  chap.  He  could  hardly  have  put 
any  more  hands  at  work  in  that  plant  without  enlarging 
the  premises.  Every  available  nook  and  corner  seemed  to 
hold  its  man,  woman,  boy,  girl,  or  mere  kiddie,  as  the 
case  might  be. 

The  main  room  of  the  plant,  if  one  might  call  it  a  room, 
seemed  a  sort  of  large  shed.  All  sorts  of  processes  went 
on  there  simultaneously.  The  ovens  were  there,  and  the 
presses,  and  the  big  tubs  of  white  enamel  and  of  blue 
enamel.  The  whole  process  from  the  very  beginning  to 
the  very  end  could  be  seen  without  one  having  to  shift 
about  much. 

All  sorts  of  employees  were  engaged  alongside  each 
other.  Here  was  a  group  of  mere  boys,  wee  lads,  at  the 
oven-side,  naked  as  the  day  they  were  born,  save  for  a 
tiny  apron.  Next  came  the  girls  around  the  colouring 
process.  A  method  that  seemed  primitive  indeed  was  in 
vogue  there.  Ordinary  wash-bowls  were  going  through 
the  deft  hands  of  a  pretty  Japanese  girl  of  about  eighteen, 
who  was  colouring  a  vast  number  as  the  minutes  slipped 
past. 

A  question  or  two  about  wages  showed  that  the  subject 
was  not  one  on  which  the  proprietor  was  going  to  wax 
enthusiastic  or  particularly  communicative. 

A  few  things  I  did  learn,  nevertheless.  Wages  in  that 
factory  had  dropped  since  the  war  began.  In  some  of 
Japan's  industries  wages  had  risen.    Not  so  in  the  plant  of 


i88  THE    FAR   EAST  UNVEILED 

the  man  with  the  nervous,  quick  black  eyes.  He  was 
paying  less  wages  than  formerly.  Why?  Because  the 
price  of  raw  materials  had  risen.  Did  the  workpeople  ob- 
ject ?  No.  The  black  eyes  snapped.  They  were  paid 
sufficiently  well,  as  well  as  other  similar  plants  paid  their 
hands.  The  average  wage?  That  was  hard  to  say.  Wages 
ran  all  sorts  of  ways  in  such  a  business.  How  low?  Say 
15  to  20  sen  (about  threepence-halfpenny  to  less  than  five- 
pence)  per  day.  Some  of  the  workers  were  very  young  to 
be  paid  much.  Top  wages?  Varied,  the  top  wage.  One 
man  got  as  much  as  i  yen  and  50  sen  (over  3  shillings)  a 
day  at  times.  He  was  the  man  at  the  primitive  hand-press. 
He  was  a  good  hand.  What  did  the  girl  whose  hands 
worked  so  deftly  at  the  colouring  get  ?  She  was  paid  by 
piece-work.  Some  days  she  made  30  sen  (just  over  seven- 
pence),  some  days  as  much  as  40  sen  (slightly  under  ten- 
pence).    She  was  a  good  girl. 

I  watched  her  as  we  talked.  She  was  swift  and  seem- 
ingly tireless.  Certainly  she  did  not  learn  that  sure,  rapid 
proficiency  in  a  short  time.  Thirty  to  forty  sen  a  day! 
Sevenpence  to  tenpence  for  an  eleven-hour  day  !  She 
earned  it. 

Supervision  of  the  output  ?  Ah,  there  I  struck  a  real 
obstacle.  Neither  The  Encumbrance  nor  the  proprietor 
had  the  remotest  idea  what  I  meant.  I  never  got  that 
query  thoroughly  home  to  them.  But  in  my  floundering 
about  in  an  effort  to  get  at  the  bottom  of  the  matter  I  dis- 
covered that  it  was  no  one's  business  in  that  plant  to  worry 
his  or  her  head  about  the  quality  of  the  work,  save  for  the 
ordinary  supervision  that  each  man  or  woman,  girl  or 
boy,  gave  to  the  integral  units  they  might  happen  to 
handle.  Most  of  them  passed  the  pieces  through  their 
hands  with  sufficient  rapidity  to  make  unseen  flaws  a 
matter  not  by  any  means  to  be  wondered  at. 

One  thing  I  did  not  see.  I  saw  no  one  plugging  the 
holes  with  lead.  To  have  spent  sufficient  time  to  do  that 
would  have  increased  the  cost  of  the  article  alarmingly,  I 
should  say.  I  think  no  one  would  bother  about  a  little 
thing  like  a  hole  in  that  works,  certainly  not  to  the  extent 
of  an  elaborate  repair.  But  I  could  not  expect  to  pick  up 
the  finer  points  of  the  business  by  a  flying  visit  such  as  I 
paid. 


ANOTHER    BEEHIVE    OF    INDUSTRY      189 

The  rapid-working,  clever-fingered  girl  that  seemed 
such  a  valuable  asset  to  the  place,  the  girl  that  made  the 
sevenpence  to  tenpence  a  day,  interested  me  far  more. 

She  was  a  hustler,  too,  in  her  way,  just  as  much  as  the 
boss  of  the  show.  But,  of  course,  no  one  in  Japan  would 
be  likely  to  think  of  that. 

She  was  only  a  very  humble  unit  in  Japan's  industrial 
army. 

There  are  many  more  where  she  came  from. 

That  is  her  chief  trouble,  though,  fortunately  for  her 
peace  of  mind,  no  such  ideas  ever  enter  her  pretty  head, 
or  are  likely  to  do  so. 

Maybe  it  is  just  as  well. 

Who  knows  ? 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII 

JAPAN    AND    THE    WAR    IN    1916 

One  of  the  most  profound  impressions  the  traveller  in  the 
Far  East  in  the  year  1916  inevitably  absorbed,  if  his  eyes 
were  open,  was  the  small  extent  to  which  Japan  realised 
that  she  was  at  war. 

Mr.  Ozaki  was  Minister  of  Justice  in  Marquis  Okuma's 
Cabinet. 

"  I  would  like  to  know  how  you  gentlemen  who 
composed  the  Okuma  Ministry  explain  or  excuse  the 
Japanese  Press  campaign  aimed  so  virulently  against 
the  British  and  the  Anglo-Japanese  Alliance,"  I  once 
asked  Mr.  Ozaki. 

Half  a  dozen  Tokyo  editors,  in  discussing  that  cam- 
paign with  me,  pooh-poohed  the  idea  that  it  was  a  very 
general  or  a  very  significant  one.  I  learned  better;  later 
I  learned  that  every  Englishman  in  Japan  who  is  worthy 
of  the  name  felt  the  stab  in  the  back,  as  one  called  it,  when 
Britain  was  fighting  for  its  life. 

The  campaign  was  general.  The  Press  of  Tokyo,  with 
perhaps  one  or  two  exceptions,  joined  in  the  hue  and  cry 
with  a  will.  Well  informed  men  in  Japan  who  are  not  dis- 
inclined to  speak  are  quick  to  condemn  that  campaign. 
Baron  Ilayashi  in  Peking  said  very  marked  things  in  con- 
demnation of  it  when  I  mentioned  it  and  the  hurt  it  had 
done  Japan.  These  men  who  condemned  it,  too,  said  the 
Government  of  the  day,  the  Okuma  Ministry,  should  have 
stopped  it.  Such  men  as  Baron  Hayashi,  for  instance, 
flouted  the  idea  that  the  Government  was  in  any  way 
powerless  to  deal  with  the  matter. 

Havashi  was  very  scornful  when  he  spoke  of  the  lack 
of  control  exerted  over  Japan's  Press  in  time  of  war  by 
the  Government  in  power.  When  I  told  him  that  Viscount 
Ishii,  Okuma's  Foreign  Minister,  had  given  me  the  im- 
pression, in  discussing  this  very  matter,  that  the  Japanese 

190 


JAPAN   AND    THE    WAR    IN    1916         191 

Press  could  not  be  kept  in  too  close  leading-strings, 
Hayashi  again  spoke  very  frankly  and  very  scornfully  of 
any  Government,  in  Japan  or  elsewhere,  which  could  not 
control  its  Press  rigidly  in  time  of  war. 

I  knew  no  Press  is  more  subject  to  Government  con- 
trol than  the  Japanese  Press.  I  was  sure  there  was  some- 
thing in  the  often  repeated  statement  that  orders  are  given 
to  the  Press  of  Japan,  not  only  to  keep  off  a  given  subject 
at  times,  but  at  others  to  howl  loud  on  some  trail  the  real 
power  of  Japan  may  point  out  to  them. 

"You  are  a  fair  man,  Mr.  Ozaki,"  I  said.  "You  were 
a  very  prominent  member  of  that  Okuma  Cabinet.  I  want 
to  get  at  the  truth,  so  I  want  to  ask  you  straight  out  for  it. 
I  do  not  mean  to  be  rude.  I  am  seriously  in  search  of  in- 
formation I  think  very  important  in  its  bearing  on  future 
Anglo-Japanese  relations." 

Mr.  Ozaki  had  somewhat  encouraged  me  to  speak 
frankly  by  his  own  frankness  about  the  matter  of  the  Five 
Group  Demands  on  China.  He  said  that  though  the  incep- 
tion of  those  Demands  was  unquestionably  the  work  of  the 
Military  Party,  who  insisted  upon  them,  Viscount  Kato 
and  himself,  with  his  other  ministerial  colleagues,  having 
once  bowed  to  the  pressure  and  fathered  the  Demands, 
must  stand  boldly  forward  as  the  men  responsible  for  what 
he  admitted  was  a  great  mistake. 

As  to  the  Anti-British  Press  campaign  conducted  in 
Japan  during  the  war,  when  it  was  over  and  gone  the 
Japanese  seemed  anxious  that  it  should  be  forgotten  as 
speedily  as  possible.  I  had  great  difficulty  in  getting 
Japanese  men  of  standing  to  explain  it  to  me.  They  tried 
to  minimise  it.  Two  of  the  best  known  editors  in  Japan 
gave  me  very  clearly  to  understand  they  had  not  been 
mixed  up  in  it,  and  afterwards  I  learned  that  both  had  had 
a  hand  in  it.  One  of  them  had  been  a  leader  of  it,  in  one 
sense. 

So  I  said:  "Mr.  Ozaki,  what  was  the  real  reason  for 
the  outbreak  against  your  ally  in  the  midst  of  so  serious 
a  struggle?  Why  did  the  Government  allows  it?  You 
were  one  of  the  men  who  must  have  discussed  the  matter 
at  the  time.  Why  did  the  Government  of  Japan  turn  the 
Press  of  Japan  loose  for  free,  critical,  unfriendly,  and, 
before  it  was  ended,  virulent  comment  on  the  document 


192  THE    FAR   EAST  UNVEILED 

upon  which  the  very  foreign  policy  of  the  Empire  of  Japan 
is  supposed  to  be  founded  ?  " 

It  was  after  dinner.  We  were  quite  alone,  Mr.  Ozaki 
and  I.  I  must  confess  to  a  sort  of  feeling  that  here  was 
my  chance.  That  anti-British  Press  campaign  had  fairly 
floored  me  when  I  had  probed  into  it  a  bit.  Sinister  minds 
pointed  to  the  fact  that  the  time  when  it  began  to  cool  down 
coincided  with  the  gradual  turning  of  the  tide  of  war,  the 
slow  dawn  of  the  realisation,  even  among  the  most  pro- 
German  elements  in  Japan,  that  Japan  was  allied  to  the 
side  which  was  going  to  win,  not  lose.  My  view  is  not  so 
sinister  as  that,  but  I  am  bound  to  admit  the  pro-German 
element  in  the  Japanese  Army  had  the  argument  much 
less  its  own  way  after  the  German  Army  had  been 
proved  to  be  unable  to  break  the  Western  line.  Nothing 
gave  me  more  joy  than  to  tell  a  group  of  Japanese  staff 
officers  in  Port  Arthur,  at  a  tiffin  given  me  there,  that  the 
British  soldier,  individually,  had  proven  the  actual 
superior,  as  a  military  unit,  of  the  German  soldier.  I 
might  add  that  nothing  could  have  caused  greater  surprise 
in  the  group  save  what  followed,  which  was  a  careful  sub- 
stantiation of  my  statement,  with  chapter  and  verse  in 
plenty.     It  was  as  good  as  a  play. 

Mr.  Ozaki  is  no  jingo.  Nor  is  he  a  military  man.  He 
is  an  honest  politician.  That  is  not  a  joke.  Honest  politi- 
cians are  quite  possible,  even  in  the  Orient.  The  more 
men  like  Mr.  Ozaki  that  come  to  the  front  of  affairs  in 
Japan  the  firmer  will  Japan  cement  her  place  in  the  comity 
of  nations.  The  sooner  will  she  make  real  advance  along 
the  lines  that  count.  That  is  why  I  was  so  anxious  to  hear 
what  Mr.  Ozaki  would  say  about  the  anti-British  Press 
campaign.  Before  I  gave  him  a  chance  to  answer,  I 
thoroughly  covered  the  ground  with  a  long  query.  My 
plan  was  to  cut  out  possible  branch  lines  and  side  shoots, 
to  kill  reference  to  smaller  subsidiary  issues  and  get  Mr. 
Ozaki  right  down  to  bedrock  at  the  first. 

He  wasted  no  time  in  minimising  the  matter  or  qualify- 
ing it. 

"The  Okuma  Ministry  took  the  following  view,"  he 
said.  "It  is  a  very  serious  thing  indeed  to  muzzle  the  Press 
of  a  nation,  particularly  on  a  subject  that  is  very  prom- 
inently in  the  minds  of  the  people,  unless  the  very  existence 


JAPAN    AND    THE    WAR    IN    1916  193 

of  the  nation  itself  is  at  stake.  Stifling  discussion  in  the 
Press  may  work  as  much  harm  as  it  does  good.  It  is  only 
when  the  life  of  the  nation,  its  very  existence,  as  I  put  it 
before,  is  threatened  that  a  Government  is  justified  in 
arbitrarily  smothering  its  newspapers." 

Mr.  Ozaki  went  on  to  explain  that  Japan  was  a  long 
way  from  the  scene  of  the  fighting,  that  she  had  only  par- 
ticipated in  what  might  be  described  as  a  mere  rearguard 
action  jn  Kiouchau  ;  that  no  real  call  had  been  made  upon 
her  people  for  sacrifice;  that  on  the  contrary  the  war  had 
proved  a  wonderful  boon  to  them ;  in  short,  that  Japan 
was,  in  one  sense,  "hardly  in  the  war  at  all." 

That  was  undeniable  enough.  The  reason  the  Japanese 
Government  did  not  stop  the  anti-British  campaign  of  the 
Japanese  Press  was  that  no  crisis  was  felt  by  Japan,  be- 
cause she  was  not  fighting  for  her  life,  her  existence. 
England  was  fighting  for  her  life.  England  was  Japan's 
ally,  too.  But  Japan  was  not  fighting  for  her  life.  Right 
there  was  the  rub. 

I  saw  the  west  and  the  north  of  England  in  1915,  before 
either  had  fully  awakened.  I  saw  Australia  and  New 
Zealand  in  1916,  and  I  saw  Japan  in  igi6  as  well.  The 
Japanese  were  truly  a  long  way  from  the  fighting.  They 
heard  relatively  little  of  what  England  had  done.  England 
could  blow  her  own  trumpet,  sometimes,  without  too  much 
loss  of  dignity  and  to  very  good  effect.  Japan  might  easily 
have  been  better  informed  as  to  something  of  what  England 
had  faced  and  what  England  had  gone  through  during  the 
first  two  years  of  the  conflict.  But  that  was  not  England's 
way.  I,  for  one,  do  not  blame  the  average  Japanese  man 
in  the  street,  or  his  Oriental  equivalent,  for  his  ignorance. 

But  the  people  of  Japan  are  not  its  Government.  Less 
than  five  per  cent,  of  Japan's  population  have  the  fran- 
chise. The  Government  is  a  different  matter.  What  it 
knew  of  events  that  had  transpirecl  at  the  front  did  not  so 
greatly  matter.  It  knew  what  Great  Britain  was  fighting 
iFor.  It  must  have  known.  It  knew  England  was  at  death- 
grips  with  the  greatest  military  power  the  wortd  has  ever 
seen. 

Yet,  in  spite  of  that  knowledge,  the  Okumn  Cabinet 
considered  that  the  life  of  Japan,  the  very  existence  of  the 
nation,  was  not  at  stake.     That  is  what  Mr.  Oznki  said. 


194  THE    FAR    EAST   UNVEILED 

He  was  Minister  of  Justice  in  that  Cabinet.  He  is  one  of 
Japan's  leading  public  men. 

"It  is  only  when  the  life  of  a  nation,  its  very  existence, 
is  threatened  that  a  Government  is  justified  in  arbitrarily 
smothering  its  newspapers."  Those  were  Mr.  Ozaki's 
words.    And  the  newspapers  were  not  smothered. 

That  is  a  commentary  on  Japan's  viewpoint  in  connec- 
tion with  the  part  she  may  be  expected  to  take  in  the  world, 
the  standing  she  would  fain  have  among  the  nations. 

Japan  was  never  in  the  war,  really.  Not  thoroughly, 
heart  and  soul.  Not  only  is  that  true  of  the  Japanese 
public,  but  of  its  Government  as  well. 

At  least,  that  was  true  under  the  regime  of  the  Okuma 
Government. 

The  Okuma  Government  died  in  191 6. 


CHAPTER  XXXIX 

Britain's  embargo  on  shipments  of  hosiery 

In  the  autumn  of  1916  Great  Britain  decided  that  some 
regulation  must  be  made  as  to  what  sort  of  goods  filled 
the  bottoms  of  ships  that  were  carrying  goods  to  England 
from  various  quarters  of  the  globe.  Two  things  had  to 
be  considered. 

First,  space  in  ships  was  of  great  value  to  the  nation. 
Naturally,  ever}'^  square  foot  available  was  greatly  sought 
after.  Much  space  was  found  to  be  occupied  on  some 
ships  with  goods  that  England  could  well  do  without  in 
time  of  war.  Neutral  bottoms  were  hardly  under  the 
orders  of  the  British  Admiralty,  even  when  London- 
bound.  How  could  the  matter  be  regulated?  By  pro- 
hibiting the  importation  into  England  of  the  goods  that 
were  not  required,  thus  leaving  more  of  that  precious 
shipping  space  for  the  goods  so  urgently  needed. 

Second,  the  output  of  certain  factories  in  England  and 
Scotland  had  to  be  stopped.  The  business  end  of  the 
industry  had  to  bow  before  the  nation's  sterner  needs. 
No  more  making  of  goods  for  sale  to  the  public.  Never 
mind  how  much  loose  cash  burns  the  pockets  of  the  muni- 
tion workers  at  times.  They  will  need  their  surplus 
cash  before  the  end.  The  nation  may  need  it,  who  knows  ? 
Never  mind  business  now,  or  profits,  or  keeping  the  trade 
long  years  of  work  have  captured.  The  life  of  the  Empire 
is  in  the  balance.  The  country  needs  your  plant,  Mr. 
Manufacturer,  to  make  things  needed  for  the  successful 
prosecution  of  the  war.  That  is  the  way  the  British 
Government  had  to  talk,  at  times,  I  imagine.  Anyway, 
many  a  factory  had  to  work  for  the  Government  and  let 
business  of  other  sorts  go  by  the  board.  That  we  all 
know. 

Is  it  therefore  unreasonable  that  a  time  came  when  the 
Government,    which    the   manufacturer   had   obeyed   with 

195 


196  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

heart  and  soul,  saw  that  foreign  goods  were  coming  in, 
duty  free,  to  England  and  Scotland  and  selling  where  the 
home  manufacturer  used  to  sell,  and  saw  that  a  great 
injustice  was  being  done  to  that  or  this  industry  thereby  ? 
Can  one  imagine  an  American  manufacturer,  keen  as 
American  manufacturers  are  reputed  to  be,  who  would 
think  Great  Britain  had  no  right  to  stop  the  foreign  goods 
from  coming  in  and  competing  with  the  British  manu- 
facturer whose  hands  the  Government  had  tied  ?  Right 
is  right,  and  fair  play  is  fair  play  the  world  over.  At 
least  it  is  so  the  English-speaking  world  over. 

Out  of  this  regulation  of  Britain's  own  home  affairs 
by  her  own  Government  came  an  embargo  on  the  ship- 
ment of  hosiery  into  England.  Hosiery  meant,  in  this 
connection,  all  sorts  of  woven  cotton  goods. 

The  cotton  spinning  and  weaving  industry,  remember, 
is  by  far  Japan's  largest  organised  commercial  and  indus- 
trial group. 

The  increase  and  advance  in  the  cotton  industry  in 
Japan  since  the  commencement  of  the  war  had  been 
stupendous.  Fortunes  in  this  line  were  being  amassed 
in  Japan  by  comparatively  small  concerns.  The  big 
fellows  were  raking  in  the  shekels  hand  over  fist. 

A  report  was  published  in  Japan  in  November,  1916, 
that  gave  the  figures  of  Japan's  import  and  export  trade 
for  the  first  nine  months  of  that  year. 

Compared  with  the  first  nine  months  of  the  year  1915, 
Japan  proved  to  have  enjoyed  great  prosperity  indeed. 
Her  imports  had  increased  39.5  per  cent,  and  her  exports 
had  made  the  colossal  gain  of  54.4  per  cent.  The  actual 
value  in  yen  of  the  increase  for  the  1916  period  over  the 
1915  period  was  no  less  than  269,450,000  (nearly 
;;^27,ooo,ooo).  Japan's  actual  turnover  in  foreign  trade 
for  the  first  six  months  of  19 16  exceeded  by  over 
300,000,000  yen  (over  ^30,000,000)  her  average  twelve- 
months' turnover  of  foreign  trade  during  the  previous 
ten  years. 

And  the  cotton  industry  ?  It  was,  to  use  an  Ameri- 
canism, on  top.  From  January  to  September,  1916, 
Japan  exported  56,721,000  yen  (sav  ;^5,67o,ooo)  worth 
of  cotton  yarn,  40,763,000  yen  (^'4, 076,000)  worth  of 
cotton  textiles,  22,235,000  yen  (;^2, 223,000)  worth  of  cotton 


BRITAIN'S    EMBARGO    ON    HOSIERY      197 

hosiery  underwear,  and  7,189,000  yen  (;^7 18,000)  worth  of 
waste  cotton.  The  figures  showed  an  increase  in  the  ex- 
port of  these  Hnes  over  the  period  from  January  to 
September,  1915,  of  10,246,000  yen  (;^' 1,024,000)  worth 
of  cotton  yarn,  14,370,000  yen  (;6  i>437)00o)  worth  of 
cotton  textiles,  15,219,000  yen  (/,'i,52i,ooo)  worth  of 
cotton  hosiery  underwear,  and  3,507,000  yen  (;6350>ooo) 
worth  of  cotton  waste. 

Boiled  down,  these  figures  meant  that  the  cotton  in- 
dustry had  shipped  from  Japan's  shores  well  over  four 
million  sterling  pounds'  worth  of  cotton  goods  in  the  first 
nine  months  of  1916  in  excess  of  the  amount  of  similar 
goods  shipped  away  during  the  first  nine  months  of  1915. 
That  was  evidence  in  plenty  of  substantial  prosperity. 

"Exports  of  cotton  hosiery  underwear  to  Great  Britain 
increased  fivefold,"  the  official  Japanese  report  said,  "and 
there  was  also  a  considerable  increase  in  exports  to  British 
India,  Dutch  Indies,  Australia  and  South  Africa.  This 
fact  led  to  the  increase  of  yen  15,000,000  (;^i, 500,000)  in 
the  total  export. 

"The  increase  of  yen  14,000,000  (^1,400,000)  in  cotton 
textiles  was  due  to  increased  exports  to  China,  India, 
the  South  Seas  and  Australia.  After  June,  1916,  the  ex- 
port trade  to  these  places  underwent  a  particularly  large 
increase.    There  was  also  a  considerable  advance  in  prices. 

"Increased  exports  to  China  and  India  were  responsible 
'for  the  increase  of  yen  56,000,000  (^5,600,000)  in  cotton 
yarn.  The  increase  in  shipments  to  India  was  due  to 
the  increased  demand  for  Japanese  cotton  yarn  as  a 
substitute  for  the  British  product,  of  which  the  supply 
was  insufficient  owing  to  the  war." 

This  shows  quite  definitely  that  up  to  the  time  that 
the  British  Government  decided  to  put  an  embargo  on 
the  importation  into  Great  Britain  of  cotton  hosiery  there 
was  little  to  worry  the  Japanese  cotton  industry. 

In  the  second  week  in  November,  19 16,  the  embargo 
was  made.  In  a  letter  written  to  the  Kobe  Chronicle  by 
an  English  resident  of  Kobe,  a  gentleman  interested  in 
the  importation  into  England  of  Japanese  hosiery,  the 
following  appeared  : 

"We  hear  nothing  about  the  failure  of  the  delivery  of 
Japanese  cotton  goods  against  contracts  for  other  markets, 


igS  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

contracts  made  some  considerable  time  back,  and  the 
excuse  still  given  by  all  manufacturers  that  they  have  no 
material  for  making  up,  so  cannot  help  being  months  late 
over  deliveries.  Yet  in  many  instances  the  material 
needed  is  exactly  the  same  as  that  used  for  orders  from 
the  United  Kingdom.  Many  makers  have  such'  goods 
on  hand  now,  goods  manufactured  really  against  recent 
orders  from  England  which  the  manufacturers  could  and 
ought  to  deliver  against  old  contracts,  prior  ones.  But  ex- 
perience teaches  that  continual  worrying  for  the  stuff  is 
fruitless. 

"When  fresh  orders  from  other  markets  are  offered 
to  the  Japanese  cotton  manufacturers,  they  one  and  all 
claim  to  be  so  very  busy  on  goods  for  the  United  King- 
dom and  Russia  that  they  can  only  make  new  contracts 
at  ridiculous  prices.  While  buyers  willing  to  pay  such 
high  prices  are  about,  others  can  whistle  for  goods  long 
overdue." 

That  letter  epitomised  a  point  of  view  of  which  I 
heard  much,  and  which  was  undeniably  based  on  fact. 

The  specific  inconvenience  of  the  embargo  on  hosiery 
was  one  of  the  very  first  inconveniences  the  war  imposed 
upon  Japan. 

An  insight  into  the  real  attitude  of  the  Japanese  of  the 
manufacturer  type  toward  Japan's  great  ally,  England,  and 
toward  the  Alliance  that  binds  the  Uvcf  Empires  together, 
can  be  gained  from  an  examination  of  this  embargo 
question. 

When  the  British  Government  put  a  ban  on  the  importa- 
tion into  England  of  cotton  hosiery,  the  cotton  industry  of 
Japan  set  up  a  howl  from  which  it  might  have  been 
imagined  that  the  hosiery  manufacturers  were  forthwith 
faced  with  inevitable  ruin. 

Meetings  were  held  at  once  in  several  quarters. 
Chambers  of  Commerce,  generally  of  comparatively  little 
use  in  Japan  except  in  such  instances,  and  then  a  con- 
venient medium  for  transmitting  grievances,  became  sud- 
denly active. 

I  was  in  Osaka,  busy  visiting  cotton  mills. 

I  was  in  the  middle  of  all  the  fracas,  for  Osaka  is  the 
centre  of  Japan's  great  cotton  spinning  and  weaving 
interests. 


BRITAIN'S    EMBARGO    ON    HOSIERY      199 

I  heard  much  wild  talk. 

Japan  has  had  the  habit  for  many  years  of  pursuing  a 
pecuharly  paradoxical  propaganda  as  the  basis  of  its  treat- 
ment of  its  industrial  element.  On  the  one  hand  the 
Japanese  Government  has  taken  to  itself  much  of  the  com- 
mercial and  industrial  opportunities  of  the  Island  Empire 
and  its  dependencies  and  appurtenances.  On  the  other  it 
has  adopted  a  policy  of  wet-nursing  its  business  men  to  an 
extent  that  has,  in  more  than  one  instance,  defeated  its 
own  object.  Continual  molly-coddling  has  tended  to  make 
the  Japanese  business  man  in  the  abstract  a  very  poor 
business  man  indeed. 

Keeping  its  business  men  in  a  sort  of  glass  case  made 
of  continual  Government  protection,  ever-readiness  on  the 
part  of  the  Government  to  wrap  its  business  world  in 
cotton-wool  and  w^ard  off  all  foreign  competition  from  it 
wherever  possible,  has  resulted  in  inculcating  in  the  Japa- 
nese industrial  magnate,  as  well  as  in  the  smaller  Japanese 
business  fry,  a  blind  belief  that  the  moment  they  run  up 
against  an  obstacle  their  first  move  must  be  to  go  crying  to 
the  Government,  for  all  the  world  like  some  small  boy  that 
has  stubbed  his  toe  and  starts,  with  loud  lamentations,  for 
the  protection  of  his  mother's  skirts. 

The  manufacturers  of  hosiery  in  Osaka  and  Tokyo  met 
in  solemn  conclave  when  the  embargo  on  cotton  hosiery 
was  declared  by  Great  Britain,  and  called  loudly,  in 
unison,  and  unanimously  to  the  Japanese  Government  to 
communicate  at  once  with  the  British  Government  and 
"insist"  that  the  British  Government  remove  the  embargo 
forthwith,  at  least  in  so  far  as  the  Japanese  were  concerned. 

I  wish  I  could  have  taken  down  and  reproduced  ver- 
batim the  speeches  made  in  Osaka,  at  the  biggest  meeting 
of  hosiery  manufacturers  that  was  held.  The  only 
translation  of  the  actual  words  used,  that  I  can  quote,  was 
typical.  The  meeting  passed  a  resolution  declaring  that 
the  action  of  the  British  Government  "ignores  the  friend- 
ship due  to  an  ally  and  inflicts  considerable  losses  on  the 
commerce  and  industry  of  Japan."  The  same  resolution 
called  openly  upon  the  Japanese  Government  to  "insist 
upon  the  British  Government  countermanding  the 
prohibition." 

One  omission  in  all  that  harangue,  as  reported  to  me, 


200  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

one  omission  in  the  agreed  resolutions  that  so  arbitrarily 
demanded  that  Japan  should  insist  that  England  should 
do  as  the  Japanese  wished,  struck  me  very  forcibly.  Not 
one  word  was  spoken,  not  one  line  was  written  in  all  the 
voluminous  resolutions,  that  gave  the  slightest  inkling 
that  the  Japanese  sympathised  with  Great  Britain  in  her 
struggle  for  her  life. 

In  a  country  where  so  much  stress  is  laid  on  the  out- 
ward form  of  politeness,  that  alone  should  have  been  the 
father  of  a  suggestion  that  it  was  only  courteous  to 
England,  as  an  ally  of  Japan,  to  throw  in  some  reference, 
however  empty  and  really  meaningless,  to  the  great 
struggle  in  which  Great  Britain  found  herself.  But  no. 
Not  a  line.  Not  a  word.  The  Japanese  simply  did  not 
think  of  it,  I  suppose.  They  were  so  engrossed  with 
their  shekel-garnering  that  nothing  else  mattered.  That 
was  the  bald  truth  of  the  matter. 

It  was  a  real  international  picture  that  this  agitation  of 
the  Japanese  hosiery  manufacturers  threw  on  the  canvas. 
England  was  on  one  side,  her  trade  hard  hit  and  in  some 
instances  wiped  out  for  the  duration  of  the  war;  her 
industries  busy  working  for  the  War  Office  or  the  Muni- 
tions Department  or  the  Admiralty  or  in  some  way  brought 
out  of  their  ordinary  channels  of  operation  ;  her  wealth 
being  poured  out  in  bucketfuls ;  the  best  of  her  young 
manhood  being  robbed  of  its  life  or  hopelessly  maimed 
or  shattered ;  the  whole  Empire  wrapped  in  the  great 
objective,  fighting  for  posterity,  fighting  for  humanity, 
fighting  for  the  progress  of  Civilisation  and  the  ultimate 
triumph  of  God  and  the  Right. 

The  other  side  of  the  picture  showed  Japan.  Japan 
was  one  of  the  combatants,  too,  in  the  great  world  struggle. 
Japan  had  lined  up  with  the  nations  that  were  fighting  for 
high  ideals.  Japan  was  in  the  war.  True,  Japan  was  only 
beginning,  at  the  end  of  1915,  to  think  about  forming 
some  sort  of  an  Enemy  Trading  Act,  but  Japan  was  one 
of  the  Allies.  Did  she  not  take  Shantung  from  Germany? 
Was  she  not  bravely  and  boldly  holding  on  to  it  in  the 
face  of  the  awful  attacks  of  the  Chinese  newspapers?  Did 
she  not  patrol  the  Southern  Seas  with  her  navy?  Of 
course  she  did.  Did  she  not  convoy  the  Australian  troops  ? 
I  know  she  did.     Was  she  not  holding  a  few  valuable 


BRITAIN'S    EMBARGO    ON   HOSIERY      201 

little  beauty  spots  in  the  Pacific  that  were  once  under  (k-r- 
man  rule  but  never  would  be  again  if  Japan  could  help 
it?  She  was.  And  from  the  look  of  things  she  intended 
to  see  to  it  that  those  little  details  of  her  work  would 
become  such  a  habit  before  the  end  of  the  war  that  she 
would  keep  right  on  holding  those  isles  of  the  Southern 
Seas,  and  Shantung  likewise. 

Japan's  trade  had  increased  by  reason  of  the  war  as 
it  would  not  have  done  in  ten  or  twenty  years  of  peace. 
Her  workshops  hummed.  Her  workpeople  had  never 
been  so  busy.  Her  specie  reserve  had  increased  enor- 
mously. Her  foodstuffs  had  not  gone  up  in  price.  Her 
merchant  marine  had  managed  to  increase,  instead  of  de- 
creasing, in  spite  of  the  fact  that  she  was  an  enemy  of 
the  Power  with  the  submarines.  The  losses  of  Japanese  life 
in  the  war  had  been  infinitesimal.  The  losses  of  anything 
else  besides  life  had  been  equally  infinitesimal.  Advantage 
had  been  given  to  Japan  to  enter  markets  where  her 
mediocre  business  men  would  have  never  gained  a  foot- 
hold in  all  time  save  for  the  war.  Germany  held  at  bay 
by  the  British  Navy,  the  British  manufacturer  with  his 
hands  full  at  home,  what  an  opportunity  for  Japan  ! 

Thankful?     Not  much. 

Appreciative?     No  evidence  of  appreciation. 

Generous?     On  the  contrary. 

Nice  picture,  was  it  not? 

Japanese  manufacturers  of  hosiery  insisted  that  their 
Government  should  sweep  aside  the  British  wall  to  their 
goods,  the  wall  that  barred  those  goods  out  of  England. 
But  walls  around  themselves  have  been  built,  and  not  in 
war-time  either,  by  the  Japanese  manufacturers,  or  by 
their  Government  on  their  behalf.  No  foreigner  can 
compete  against  the  pampered  Japanese  manufacturer  in 
his  own  land,  except  under  very  peculiar  circumstances. 
The  Japanese  Government  even  goes  farther.  It  tries  to 
make  it  impossible  for  the  English  manufacturer  to  compete 
with  the  Japanese  cotton  goods  manufacturer  in  ISIan- 
churia,  where  Japan  has  solemnly  pledged  herself,  time 
and  again,  that  she  will  see  that  equal  opportunity  is 
given  to  English  and  Japanese  and  the  business  men  of 
all  other  nations. 

Business    men    and    manufacturers   are   prone   to   feel 


202  THE    FAR    EAST   UNVEILED 

through  their  pockets  all  over  the  world.  But  what  of 
Japan  in  the  abstract?  What  of  her  prominent  men  who 
are  not  business  men  ?  What  of  her  horde  of  professors 
who  are  so  ready  on  all  occasions  to  rush  into  print?  I 
can  tell  about  the  professors.  The  six  Associated 
Chambers  of  Commerce  in  the  Kwansai  district  which  was 
one  of  the  nuclei  of  the  agitation  had  the  advice  of  the 
professors  of  the  Imperial  University  at  Kyoto.  That 
advice  was  in  favour  of  agitation.  What  of  Japan's  news- 
paper editors?  What  of  her  army  men?  Surely  it  might 
have  dawned  on  them  that  Japan  was  at  war,  that  Japan 
was  an  ally  of  England,  that  England  was  fighting  for 
her  very  existence  and  that  all  business  matters  must 
remain  in  abeyance  to  the  winning  of  the  war  ! 

But  no.  Not  a  word  was  said  in  the  Japanese  Press 
which  would  give  the  casual  observer,  or  the  close  watcher, 
for  that  matter,  any  inkling  that  all  Japan  held  one  single 
Japanese  who  sympathised  with  the  English  point  of  view, 
with  England's  stern  necessity. 

As  Robert  Young  of  the  Kobe  Chronicle  said  :  "I  can 
only  wonder  what  meaning  is  attached  in  Japan  to  the 
word  Alliance."- 


CHAPTER  XL 

PROSPECTIVE    INDUSTRIAL    CONTROL    FOR    JAPAN 

The  Japanese  industrial  and  commercial  world  found  a 
champion  in  Count  Terauchi.  Terauchi  believed  in  push- 
ing on  the  commercial  prosperity  of  the  country  without 
respite. 

Toward  the  closing  days  of  November,  1916,  the  Asso- 
ciated Chambers  of  Commerce  held  a  conference  in  Tokyo. 
The  British  embargo  on  cotton  hosiery  was  the  chief  topic 
discussed.  The  conference  marked  the  conclusion  of  its 
labours  by  a  luncheon. 

After  the  luncheon  came  the  speeches.  The  Japanese 
are  great  hands  at  speech-making.  The  first  speaker  at 
this  particular  function  was  Mr.  Nakano,  President  of  the 
Tokyo  Chamber  of  Commerce,  and  chairman  at  the 
luncheon. 

Naturally  enough,  Mr.  Nakano's  mind  was  full  of 
the  hosiery  matter.  He  talked  at  some  length  about  it, 
without  adding  much  to  the  general  knowledge  concerning 
the  subject,  and  finally  concluded  as  follows  : 

"The  relations  of  the  Government  and  the  Chambers 
of  Commerce  are  something  like  those  of  a  doctor  and 
a  nurse  tending  a  patient.  Whatever  opinions  the  nurse 
may  have,  she  has  no  power  to  act  without  the  consent 
of — and  support  of — the  doctor.  It  is  a  grave  situation  that 
confronts  us.  It  is  one  that  will  affect  vitally  the  national 
economy  and  may  mean  unemployment  for  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  workers." 

In  1913,  the  year  before  the  war,  Japan's  total  exports 
were  yen  632,000,000  (;^63, 200,000).  The  proportion  of 
that  amount  that  went  to  Great  Britain  totalled  but  yen 
32,000,000  (;i^3,200,ooo).  Great  Britain  was  getting  less 
than  five  per  cent,  of  Japan's  exports  when  war  broke  out 
in  Europe.  In  the  same  year,  in  1913,  Japan  exported 
88,000,000    yen    (^^8,800,000)    worth    of    textile    fabrics, 

203 


204  THE    FAR    EAST   UNVEILED 

about  26,000,000  yen  (;^2, 600,000)  worth  of  clothing,  and 
no  less  than  276,000,000  yen  (;^27, 600,000)  worth  of 
cotton  yarn,  thread  and  other  cotton  materials. 

Thus  before  Britain's  hands  were  tied  by  the  war 
Japan  was  sending  annually  from  her  own  shores  about 
390,000,000  yen  (/,'39, 000,000)  worth  of  cotton  goods,  in- 
cluding textile  cotton  yarn,  textile  fabrics  and  cotton  cloth- 
ing, while  her  total  exports  of  all  classes  of  goods  to  Great 
Britain  were  only  worth  a  matter  of  yen  32,000,000 
(;^3>200,ooo)  all  told. 

Even  in  1915  the  total  exports  of  cotton  hosiery  under- 
wear from  Japan  to  all  parts  of  the  world  did  not  far 
exceed  a  value  of  yen  10,000,000  (;^  1,000,000),  and  for 
19 16  would  not  reach  yen  30,000,000  (;^3, 000,000). 

Yet  the  President  of  the  Tokyo  Chamber  solemnly 
declared  at  a  luncheon  at  which  Japan's  new  Premier  was 
the  guest  of  honour,  and  incidentally  down  for  a  speech, 
that  the  British  embargo  on  cotton  hosiery  meant  a 
prospective  loss  of  employment  for  "hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  workers."  Japan  had,  before  the  war,  no  export 
trade  with  England  in  cotton  hosiery  to  speak  about,  and 
even  in  1916  her  exports  of  cotton  hosiery  underwear 
did  not  exceed  ^3,500,000  in  value  to  all  parts  of  the 
world. 

Mr.  Nakano  was,  in  my  opinion,  indulging  in  what 
might  be  called  imagery  of  speech. 

Count  Terauchi  spoke  in  reply. 

"We  are  doing  all  we  can,"  the  Premier  said,  "to 
remove  this  obstacle  to  the  development  of  the  nation's 
foremost  industry.  We  can  clearly  see  the  grave  eco- 
nomic and  sociological  results  that  may  arise.  The 
Government  will  see  that  proper  steps  are  taken  in  the 
matter. 

"In  regard  to  questions  arising  out  of  the  commerce  of 
Japan,"  continued  Terauchi,  "Unity  must  be  the  watch- 
word. It  is  not  alone  individual  interests  that  are  at 
stake.  The  interests  of  the  State  will  also  be  vitally 
affected  by  the  trade  struggle  that  will  follow  the  war. 
We  must  spare  no  efforts  to  obtain  satisfactory  results 
for  Japan." 

What  n  chance  Terauchi  missed  !  How  well  it  would 
have  sounded  if  he  had  put  in  a  few  trite  sentences  about 


INDUSTRIAL    CONTROL    FOR    JAPAN    205 

winning  the  war  first.  What  an  opportunity  he  had  to 
say  something-  about  the  sympathy  the  industrial  men  of 
Japan  should  feel  for  the  less  fortunate  industrial  elements 
in  the  Allied  Nations  in  their  hour  of  trial. 

The  Russian  Government,  too,  placed,  in  19 16,  an 
embargo  on  the  shipment  into  Russia  via  Siberia  of 
various  products  and  commodities  grouped  under  the 
heading  of  luxuries.  While  Japan's  export  trade  with 
Russia  was  less  than  yen  10,000,000  (;^i, 000,000)  before 
the  war,  it  exceeded  yen  90,000,000  (^9,000,000)  in  the 
year  1915.  Russian  policy  in  waiving  Customs  dues  on 
such  Japanese  importations  as  matches,  sugar,  and  fish 
was  accepted  with  a  welcoming  smile  by  Japan.  Russia's 
decision  to  prohibit  luxuries,  as  a  war  measure,  however, 
was  met  with  a  frown. 

The  Tokyo  Nichi-Nichi,  which  some  people  call  the 
Daily  Mail  of  Japan,  spoke  its  mind  on  this  subject, 
editorially,  as  follows  : 

"It  is  a  great  pity  that  while  the  kinds  of  goods  that  enjoy 
immunity  from  Customs  are  few  in  number,  many  descriptions 
of  merchandise  are  subject  to  the  veto  recently  proclaimed  by 
the  Russian  Government.  The  productive  industrial  concerns 
in  this  country  received  a  strong  impetus  by  the  recent  develop- 
ment in  Japan's  trade  with  Russia,  and  have  consequently  made 
very  extensive  expansion,  so  that  the  sudden  prohibition  of 
imf>orts  by  Russia  may  prove  a  hard  blow,  and  some  of  these 
concerns  will  have  to  be  shut  up. 

"  The  Japanese  authorities  cannot,  in  reason,  sit  with 
folded  arms  in  the  face  of  the  very  embarrassing  situation  con- 
fronting Japanese  traders  at  home  and  Japanese  merchants 
resident  in  Vladivostok." 

No  sympathy  for  the  Russian  point  of  view  stirred  the 
bosom  of  the  Nichi-Nichi. 

"Is  there  no  evidence,"  I  was  asked  by  a  gentle- 
man from  India,  "that  the  Japanese  are  beginning  to 
see  that  there  are  two  sides  to  such  wholesale  pro- 
tection and  subsidisation  of  Japanese  industries  of  all 
sorts  ?  " 

I  saw  one  sign.  The  confectioners  in  various  parts  of 
Japan  were  trying  to  effect  an  organisation.  They  wanted 
to  commence  a  campaign   for  the  reduction  of  both  the 


2o6  THE    FAR   EAST  UNVEILED 

import  duty  and  the  consumption  tax  on  sugar.  More 
than  one  hundred  representative  confectioners  met  in 
Tokyo  and  formulated  their  initial  demands.  They  asked 
for  a  reduction  of  no  less  than  50  per  cent,  on  each  duty. 
They  argued  that  such  a  reduction  in  the  duties  would 
result  in  the  retail  price  of  sugar  in  Japan  dropping  to  a 
figure  which  would  be  about  30  per  cent,  of  the  existing 
price.  A  big  drop,  that.  Formosa  produced  the  bulk  of 
the  sugar  for  Japan.  The  Japanese  Government  took  the 
stand  that  the  high  import  duties  that  assisted  the 
Formosan  sugar-people  were  necessary.  They  were  im- 
posed, the  Government  alleged,  to  protect  Formosan  sugar 
against  foreign  sugar,  not  to  tax  the  sugar  for  revenue  to 
the  Japanese  treasury.  The  Formosan  industry  still 
needed  protection,  argued  the  Government.  Not  so,  said 
the  confectioners.  Formosan  sugar  was  produced,  they 
averred,  in  such  quantities  that  not  only  could  the  demand 
in  Japan  be  supplied,  but  sugar  was  shipped  from  Formosa 
to  China.  If  the  Formosan  sugar-folk  would  not  lower 
the  prices  the  duty  must  go,  said  the  confectioners.  When 
I  left  Japan  in  1916  they  were  still  talking,  and  the  duty 
was  as  high  as  ever. 

But  it  was  a  start  in  the  right  direction,  nevertheless. 

It  was  a  start,  but  the  way  is  long. 

I  prophesy  that  Japan  will  reap  the  whirlwind  where  she 
has  sown  the  wind.  Her  infant  industries  of  yesterday 
will  control  her  one  day. 

The  United  'States  of  America  had  a  taste  of  that. 
Graft,  big  business,  trust  control,  legislative  crookedness, 
the  triumph  of  the  industrial  organisations  over  the  other 
units  in  the  life  of  the  State.  Those  things  may  all  come 
one  day  for  Japan. 

The  day  Japan  sees  "big  business  "  really  in  control 
will  be  a  sorry  day  for  Japan. 

American  crooked  legislation  in  the  interest  of  the 
money  power  and  the  industrial,  commercial  and  manu- 
facturing magnates  was  bad.  Japanese  crooked  legisla- 
tion will  be  worse,  when  it  comes. 

Long  years  passed  before  America  could  shake  herself 
free  from  the  folds  of  the  tentacles  of  the  octopi.  A  much 
longer  time  will  Japan  need  to  struggle  to  free  herself,  if 
she  becomes  thoroughly  enmeshed. 


I 


INDUSTRIAL   CONTROL    FOR   JAPAN    207 

For  Japan  has  no  labour  organisations  to  help  fight 
capital  and  no  element  to  compare  with  the  American 
farmer,  who  is  America's  anchor  to  windward.  Japan  has 
another  handicap.  She  has  no  inherent,  and  all  too  little 
adopted,  commercial  morality  in  the  heart  of  her  business 
community. 


CHAPTER  XLl 

ON   COMMERCIAL  MORALITY 

What  do  the  prominent  men  in  Japan  in  various  walks  of 
life  think  of  the  advance  or  otherwise  of  the  Japanese  com- 
mercial world  along  the  road  of  business  rectitude  and 
commercial  morality  ? 

They  differ  but  little,  if  one  can  judge  their  opinions 
from  their  utterances  and  writings. 

I  could  see  in  1916  a  vast  improvement  for  the  better 
in  the  Japanese  business  man.  I  looked  at  him  for  the 
first  time  since  1900.  To  say  that  commercial  morality 
from  the  Western  standpoint  had  not  increased  markedly 
in  those  sixteen  years  would  not  only  be  unfair  to  the 
Japanese,  but  absolutely  untrue. 

In  Manchuria  and  China  I  heard  much  of  Japanese 
dishonesty.  In  Manchuria  I  found  sterling  foreign  busi- 
ness men,  men  who  were  not  by  any  means  disinclined  to 
look  at  the  matter  fairly,  who  said  regretfully  that  they 
could  not  trust  the  Japanese  merchants  and  commercial 
element  generally. 

I  found  foreigners  like  that  in  Japan  too,  but  I  also 
found  English  and  American  business  men  in  prominent 
positions  who  were  quick  to  say  unequivocally  and  without 
reserve  or  qualification  that  the  industrial  and  commercial 
leaders  of  Japan,  the  men  who  control  the  larger 
business  concerns,  are  usually  good,  straight,  business 
men.  I  probed  rather  deeply  into  this  question  in  Japan. 
Those  of  Japan's  commercial  world  who  have  experienced 
continual  touch  with  foreign  business  houses  of  the  right 
sort  are  well  aware  that  a  reputation  for  fair  dealing  is  an 
asset  without  which  one  cannot  go  far  when  transacting 
business  with  the  men  of  the  West. 

The  majority  of  Japan's  business  men  have  hardly 
reached  that  stage,  however.  Tt  is  not  to  throw  mud  at 
Japan,  the  Japanese,  or  the  commercial  element  in  Japan 

208 


ON    COMMERCIAL    MORALITY  209 

that  I  refer  to  this  question.  It  is  necessary  to  consider 
it  if  one  is  to  be  able  to  form  any  estimate  of  Japan's  possi- 
bilities for  the  future. 

The  burning  question  of  the  hour  in  1916  in  industrial 
Japan,  whether  all  of  the  Japanese  recognised  it  or  not, 
was  the  character  of  the  foundation  which  industrial  and 
commercial  Japan  was  laying  for  the  strenuous  days  of 
competition  she  would  have  to  face  when  peace  came  again 
and  the  nations  of  the  Western  world  turned  their  attention 
to  the  marts  of  the  Far  East. 

The  character  of  the  individual  Japanese  business  man, 
and  his  individual  ability,  were  much  greater  factors  in 
the  construction  of  that  foundation  than  most  Japanese 
manufacturers  with  whom  I  came  into  personal  contact  in 
Japan  seemed  to  think. 

I  have  said  that  I  saw  evidences  of  Japan's  progress 
along  lines  of  moral  rectitude  as  applied  to  commercial 
affairs.  I  may  add  that  the  ability,  and  the  cleverness, 
and  the  industrious  application  to  the  finer  points  of  busi- 
ness organisation  that  are  sometimes  attributed  to  the 
Japanese  in  general  are  much  overdrawn.  The  Japanese 
have  progressed  much  less  along  that  highwtiy  than  is 
thought  by  many  observers. 

Baron  Shibusawa  is  the  Grand  Old  Man  of  the 
Japanese  world  of  business.  He  has  done  more  than  any 
other  one  Japanese  to  raise  the  standard  of  Japanese  com- 
mercial transactions  and  of  those  who  <*ngineer  them.  In 
November,  1916,  he  gave  an  address  after  a  bankers'  din- 
ner in  Tokyo.  He  said  :  "When  I  returned  from  my  tour 
in  Europe  in  the  early  days  of  IMeiji,  after  observing  the 
progress  in  material  civilisation  in  foreign  countries,  I 
made  up  my  mind  to  do  my  best  to  transplant  Western 
civilisation  to  Japan  so  that  our  country  might  overtake 
the  West  in  the  international  race  for  progress.  We  have 
since  devoted  our  attention  to  this  end,  and,  I  think,  have 
partially  succeeded." 

After  an  enumeration  of  various  lines  of  Japan's  ad- 
vance, Baron  Shibusawa  continued  :  "  But  although  Japan's 
career  has  been  marked  during  the  last  forty  years  by 
remarkable  progress,  opinions  are  divided  as  regards  her 
future.  I  myself  am  inclined  to  regard  Japan's  future 
with  pessimism. 

o 


210  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

"Notwithstanding-  great  achievements  in  the  field  of 
material  civilisation  during  the  Meiji  era,  the  moral  culture 
of  the  Japanese  people  was  sadly  neglected  during  those 
years.  The  result  is  that  they  lag  behind  other  countries 
in  respect  to  moral  culture  and  the  work  of  character- 
building,  and  unless  this  defect  is  rectified  it  can  hardly 
be  said  that  Japan  has  made  progress  in  the  true  sense  of 
the  term.  The  restoration  of  peace  in  Europe  will  bring 
in  its  train  a  great  advance  in  moral  as  well  as  material 
civilisation,  and  it  would  be  well  for  the  Japanese  to  be 
prepared  for  the  coming  change.  So  long  as  the  Japanese 
remain  inferior  to  other  nations  in  their  moral  culture  they 
will  not  be  able  to  hold  their  ground  against  such  nations." 

The  aged  financier  was  speaking  on  a  very  high  plane. 
He  drew  the  picture  strongly  to  point  the  moral.  As  to 
his  pessimism,  he  is  more  pessimistic  than  he  might  be 
under  the  circumstances.  The  question  he  raises  is  closely 
bound  with  that  of  the  progress  of  Japan  toward  the  right, 
not  only  in  the  business  world,  but  in  every  phase  of  her 
existence  as  a  nation. 

The  Tokyo  Hochi  hit  one  nail  on  the  head  in  this  argu- 
ment when  it  printed  the  following  leader : 

'*  One  of  the  causes  for  the  debasement  of  the  quality  of 
goods  exported  from  Japan  in  these  days  lies  in  the  fact  that 
the  Japanese  manufacturers  conduct  business  on  a  small  scale, 
each  with  very  little  capital  conducting  his  business  inde- 
pendently. Some  of  the  knitted  goods  factories  are  conducted 
with  a  capital  of  only  yen  30,000  (about  ;^3,ooo),  while  the 
manufacture  of  shell  buttons  is  carried  on  with  a  paltry  capital 
of  200  to  300  yen  (from  twenty  odd  to  thirty  odd  pounds). 
When  so  many  different  independent  manufacturers  produce 
the  goods,  each  in  his  own  way,  it  is  not  to  be  expected  that 
the  products  will  be  uniform  in  shape,  size  and  quality.  Japan 
needs  still  to  learn  great  lessons  from  the  West  in  the  manage- 
ment of  industries." 

The  Hochi  might  further  have  mentioned  that  the  class 
of  men  to  which  this  small  manufacturer  belongs  needs 
schooling  as  to  its  business  morals.  It  is  just  this  class 
that  needs  it  the  most. 

Hold,  though  !  The  Mitsui  Bussan  Kaisha  is  the  big- 
gest business  concern  in  Japan.  While  I  was  in  Japan  it 
was  caught  red-handed  at  the  denudation  of  an  extensive 


ON    COMMERCIAL   MORALITY  211 

area  of  State  forests  at  Kongosan,  Korea,  one  of  the  beauty 
spots  of  the  world.  Before  the  Mitsui  Company  had  con- 
fessed to  this  act  of  deforestation  the  Director  of  the 
Japanese  Forestry  Bureau  said  in  public,  that  "whoever 
is  guilty  of  the  shameful  plunder  should  be  brought  to 
justice  without  mercy."  The  Mitsui  Company  was  guilty, 
admittedly.  It  needed  the  timber  for  its  adjacent  mines, 
it  said.  It  knew  that  permission  to  take  it  would  be  with- 
held, so  it  took  the  timber  without  asking.  I  was  told  on 
unimpeachable  authority  that  the  Mitsui  Company  had 
already  appointed  certain  of  its  staff  nominally  to  take  the 
blame  and  pay  the  fine,  should  a  fine  be  imposed.  That 
such  a  contingency  would  arise,  considering  the  power  of 
the  company,  was  more  than  doubtful.  Peculiar  moral 
viewpoint,  that  of  the  Mitsui  Company  ! 

Official  condemnation  of  Japanese  commercial  crooked- 
ness, particularly  as  applied  to  export,  is  a  frequent  thing 
in  Japan.  In  a  speech  made  while  I  was  in  Japan  by  Mr. 
Nakashoji,  the  Minister  for  Agriculture  and  Commerce  of 
Japan,  he  said  : 

"  What  is  most  important  in  the  development  of  foreign 
trade  is  the  securing  of  a  good  reputation  for  Japanese 
goods.  It  is  a  notorious  fact  that  Japan's  foreign  trade 
has  long  been  suffering  from  the  inferior  quality,of  goods 
made  for  export,  and  although  successive  Governments 
have  done  much  to  remedy  this  shortcoming,  complaints 
are  as  frequent  as  ever.  The  promotion  of  commercial 
morality  among  Japanese  merchants  is  necessary  to  im- 
prove the  existing  state  of  affairs.  An  organised  effort 
should  be  made  to  effect  this  improvement.  Japanese 
merchants  are  liable  to  be  led  into  exporting  goods  of 
indifferent  quality  for  the  sake  of  the  immediate  profit, 
forgetting  that  the  country's  trade  will  thereby  be  adversely 
affected." 

In  September,  1916,  the  Chugai  Shogyo  of  Tokyo  com- 
mented editorially  on  the  discovery  by  Russian  merchants 
in  Vladivostok  that  among  consignments  of  Japanese 
matches  from  Osaka  were  several  crates  so  packed  that  the 
centre  of  each  case  was  empty. 

"In  official  and  private  circles,"  said  the  Tokyo  paper, 
"  the  argument  has  hitherto  been  advanced  on  various  occa- 


212  THE   FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

sions  that  the  moral  standards  of  Japanese  merchants  and 
manufacturers  are  very  low,  and  that  in  some  instances  their 
actions  are  tantamount  to  theft.  From  time  to  time  warnings 
have  been  issued  to  merchants  to  refrain  from  committing 
dishonest  practices  in  the  export  trade,  but  the  warnings  have 
proved  of  no  avail." 

About  the  same  time  Count  Yanigizawa  returned  from 
Tsing-tau,  which  Japan  had  taken  from  the  Germans,  and 
said  in  an  interview  :  "Although  there  are  sixteen  thousand 
Japanese  in  Tsing-tau,  there  are  not  many  business  men 
who  have  sufficient  capital  and  a  sound  enough  reputa- 
tion to  establish  trade  relations  in  China.  The  civil 
Government  should  remain  under  military  control  in 
Tsing-tau,  to  stimulate  Japanese  commercial  activity 
there." 

That  was  one  suggestion. 

Another,  which  I  heard  frequently  in  Japan,  was  that 
a  governmental  inspection  office  should  be  established  for 
all  exported  goods,  a  sort  of  clearing  or  conditioning 
house.  I  saw  a  very  trite  article  on  this  subject  from  one 
of  Tokyo's  most  prominent  business  men.  In  his  article 
came  the  inevitable  denunciation.  "Japanese  merchants 
themselves  are  often  dishonest,"  he  said.  "If  the  market 
price  of  raw  material  rises  beyond  the  contracted  price  and 
before  they  have  started  delivery,  they  cut  out  the  orders. 
If  they  do  deliver,  they  send  goods  much  inferior  to 
samples." 

A  Government  clearing-house  might  deal  with  one 
phase  of  this  problem,  but  hardly  with  both  phases. 

The  only  ray  of  hope  for  the  future  of  Japanese  industry 
and  commerce  is  the  ever-growing  recognition  in  Japan  of 
the  true  state  of  affairs  and  the  seriousness  of  it.  But  I 
saw  little  or  no  evidence  of  any  real  grappling  with  this 
menace  to  Japan's  future.  Those  who  are  preaching  fear 
of  Japan's  domination  of  the  industrial  Far  East  would  do 
well  to  ponder  this.  Given  adequate  and  proper  support 
and  protection  by  his  Home  Government,  the  foreign  busi- 
ness man  in  the  East  and  the  foreign  manufacturer  in  his 
homeland  need  by  no  means  despair  of  successfully  com- 
peting with  the  Japanese  commercial  element,  at  least  in 
our  own  times. 


ON    COMMERCIAL    MORALITY  213 

Co-operation,  organisation,  Government  support  to  the 
extent  that  the  Anglo-Saxon  business  man  and  manufac- 
turer shall  have  a  square  deal  in  the  East,  will  unfailingly 
yield  results  fully  commensurate  with  efforts  put  forth  in 
the  Orient,  so  far  as  our  day  and  the  immediate  future  are 
concerned. 


CHAPTER  XLII 

THE  JAPANESE   LABOURER   AND   HIS   HIRE 

"Labour  will  never  organise  effectually  in  our  time  in 
Japan." 

The  speaker  was  a  Japanese  who  had  a  right  to  an 
opinion  on  the  subject.  He  employed  thousands  of 
Japanese  men  and  women  of  the  labouring  classes. 

A  few  days  later  I  opened  my  Japan  Advertiser  in 
Tokyo  and  absorbed  the  following  with  my  breakfast : 

**  The  Tokyo  Jiji  Shimhun  contains  an  editorial  on  behalf 
of  labourers  who  are  directly  concerned  in  the  manufacture  of 
arms  and  war  materials,  from  which  the  wealth  of  the  capi- 
talistic classes  has  been  increased.  While  the  capitalists  who 
handle  these  goods  are  worthy  of  mention  for  services  rendered 
to  the  country,  the  services  of  the  labourers  should  not  be 
forgotten.  Owing  to  the  war  the  prices  of  daily  necessities 
have  risen.  The  labouring  classes  are  suffering  from  the  rise. 
Under  such  circumstances  it  is  natural  for  the  labourers  to 
complain  of  the  meagreness  of  their  wages." 

The  ]iji  Shimhun  is  one  of  the  soundest  and  most  in- 
fluential papers  in  Japan.  Its  client^e  is  drawn  from  the 
upper,  not  the  labouring,  classes. 

A  week  later  I  read  the  following,  appended  to  a  report 
on  a  tendency  toward  a  rise  in  wages  in  Osaka,  published 
by  the  Osaka  Chamber  of  Commerce  : 

"  Hitherto,  Japan  has  been  considered  a  land  where  labour 
overstocked  the  market,  hence  cheap  labour.  But  conditions 
are  changing.  Skilled  labour  is  appearing-,  and  the  standard 
of  the  lower  classes  of  workmen  is  being  raised.  The  shortness 
of  labour  has  induced  many  of  the  firms  to  employ  agents  to 
scour  the  provinces  to  collect  men. 

"  Still  the  demand  remains  unfilled.  This  new  state  of 
affairs  has  brought  about  a  new  trend  in  labour  organisation. 
Workmen  have  banded   together,   taking  advantage  of  condi- 

214 


JAPANESE  LABOURER  AND  HIS  HIRE    215 


tions,  and  have  adopted  a  method  of  collective  bargaining, 
pressing  upon  their  employers  demands  which  have  been 
successful.  This  is  an  interesting  fact  to  a  student  of  labour 
problems.  The  changes  that  are  taking  place  to-day  will  have 
a  great  influence  on  the  Japanese  labour  world." 

To  give  an  idea  of  the  rise  in  the  price  of  wages  in 
Osaka  and  to  show  at  what  rate  some  departments  of  labour 
are  paid  in  Japan,  I  append  the  table  of  figures  compiled 
by  the  Osaka  Chamber  of  Commerce.  The  table  gives  the 
average  daily  wages  in  sen  for  the  second  half  of  the  year 
1915  and  for  the  first  half  of  1916  comparatively.  For 
ordinary  purposes  of  reckoning  every  ten  sen  may  be  taken 
as  representing  about  two-and-a-half  English  pence  : 


Industry 


Second  half  of  i^ie,      First  half  of  igi6 
(Wages  fer  day  in  sen) 


Refineries        

51 

57 

Shipbuilding 

..         78 

82 

Casting  (steel) 

63 

69 

Crucible           

..»       lOI 

300 

Cement           

n 

84 

Bone  work      

70 

92 

Shell  buttons 

50 

55 

Shops     

83 

91 

Harness           

75 

84 

Arsenal            

63 

57 

Arsenal  (contract  labour) 

84 

82 

Mint       

72 

73 

Textile             

53 

56 

Knitted  goods 

..        46 

69 

The  above  figures,  according  to  the  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce, represented  the  industries  which  have  met  a  boom 
owing  to  the  war.  Wages  had  risen  in  all  the  industries 
in  this  list  except  the  arsenal. 

In  the  following  list  of  industries,  said  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce,  wages  had  risen  purely  because  of  the  scarcity 
of  labour  of  the  particular  sort  required  : 


Industry 


Flour  mill 

Gelatine 

Oil 


Second  half  of  191 5      First  half  of  1916 
[\Vages  fer  day  in  sen) 

32         33 

25         35 

30         32 


2l6 


THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 


Second  half 

of 

1915 

First  half  of  i()\6 

{Wa, 

■'es 

■per 

day  in 

sen) 

30 

40 

47 

58 

58 

59 

55 

85 

55 

70 

••         63 

68 

60 

93 

70 

80 

70 

77 

70 

95 

70 

105 

93 

95 

100 

105 

Industry 

Hat   manufacture    ... 

Net-making    

Brick-making 

Coopers  

Parasol-makers 

Painters  

Bamboo-workers 
Wood   tube    makers 
Furnace  hands 
Cabinet-makers 

Joiners  

Embroidering 
Tailoring         


Finally,  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  gave  a  list  of  indus- 
tries in  which  the  scale  of  wages  had  declined,  instead  of 
risen.  The  four  most  interesting  out  of  this  list  were  the 
following  : 

Industry 


Match   works 
Agricultural    implements, 
Can   manufacturers 
Dyeing  


Second  half  of  1915       First  half  of  1916 
[Wages  fer  day  in  sen) 

45  35 

58  51 

93  80 

64  63 


Explaining  these  exceptions  to  the  general  prosperity 
of  the  industrial  workers,  the  Chamber  said  that  the  cause 
in  the  fall  in  the  match  and  dye  works  was  the  high  cost  of 
raw  materials.  The  decline  in  the  agricultural  implements 
rates  was  due  to  the  low  market  price  of  rice,  affecting  the 
purchasing  power  of  the  farmers. 

I  took  this  list  and  a  few  Japanese  newspaper  comments 
upon  it  to  the  Japanese  manufacturer  who  had  said, 
"Labour  will  never  organise  effectually  in  our  time  in 
Japan." 

We  had  a  lengthy  chat. 

The  Japanese  Government  does  not  allow  the  formation 
of  labour  unions,  as  such,  in  Japan.  In  1916  a  group  of 
workers  applied  to  the  Japanese  Home  Office  for  permis- 
sion to  organise  a  trade  union.  The  request  of  the  group 
was  refused  on  the  ground  that  the  applicants  were  "men 


JAPANESE   LABOURER  AND  HIS  HIRE    217 

devoid  of  means,  education  and  credit,  and  hence  disquali- 
fied to  form  such  an  organisation." 

Commenting  on  that  subject,  my  Japanese  friend  said 
that  the  day  might  come  when  a  sort  of  passive  organisa- 
tion of  certain  types  of  workers  would  be  brought  into 
existence  by  the  demand  for  their  services,  but  that  he  was 
sure  that  many,  many  years  would  pass  before  labour 
organisations  in  the  Western  acceptation  of  the  term  were 
seen  in  Japan. 

"Conditions  to-day  are  exceptional."  That  was  the 
gist  of  his  argument.  "The  farmers  need  men  later  than 
usual  this  year  owing  to  the  late  harvest.  Industrial  ex- 
pansion owing  to  the  war  has  been  phenomenal,  of  course, 
and  the  organisations  for  getting  hold  of  the  material  from 
which  factory  and  shop  labour  is  made  are  anything  but 
efficient.  Some  cases  may  have  occurred  where  labour  has 
bargained  for  something  tangible  and  got  it,  but  they  are 
not  general,  by  any  means.  You  are  going  about  the  fac- 
tories of  Japan.     Look  into  the  matter  for  yourself." 

I  did,  to  the  best  of  my  ability. 

I  could  find  nothing  that  would  tend  to  make  one  be- 
lieve that  the  organisation  of  labour  in  Japan  is  likely  of 
realisation  for  some  time  to  come. 

I  spent  hours  talking,  through  the  medium  of  inter- 
preters of  all  sorts,  with  all  sorts  of  Japanese  labourers.  I 
met  some  of  the  labourers  outside  of  factory  hours.  They 
were  not  w^orrying  much  about  labour  organisation.  They 
were  for  the  most  part  not  of  the  kind  of  folk  to  worry 
much  about  anything.  It  would  take  an  exceptional 
speaker  to  stir  up  much  of  a  commotion  in  Japan,  if  he  held 
to  the  subject  of  the  grievances  of  the  working  man. 

The  Japanese  working  man  thought  little  about  the  new 
Factory  Act.  It  was  an  Act  compiled  especially  for  him, 
which  had  come  into  operation  on  September  i,  igi6.  One 
man  told  me  that  it  limited  hours  of  labour  to  twelve  each 
day.  He  thought  that  rather  futile,  I  understood.  His  lot, 
iron-workers,  did  not  work  twelve  hours  per  day,  anyway. 
He  had  a  cousin  who  worked  at  making  silk  stockings  who 
worked  fifteen.  The  F'actory  Act  did  not  bother  his 
brother,  who  made  good  money.  Another  Japanese  work- 
ing man  said  the  Factory  Act  gave  a  man  170  days'  wages 
if   injured.      It  also   gave   his   relatives    170  days'  wages 


2i8  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

if  he  were  killed.  That  was  much  poorer  compensation 
than  his  own  employers  customarily  gave.  He  did  not 
elaborate  on  the  merits  or  demerits  of  the  Act,  but  he  was 
not  keen  on  it.  Many  workmen  I  met  never  heard  of  the 
Act.     Few  indeed  knew  aught  of  its  provisions. 

If  Japanese  labour  was  about  to  organise,  I  could  find  no 
tangible  evidences  to  that  effect.  If  labour  in  Japan  was 
on  the  move  in  that  direction  it  was  walking  on  tiptoe  with 
its  finger  to  its  lips. 


CHAPTER    XLIII 

TERAUCHI     AND     HIS    PREMIERSHIP 

Count  Terauchi  bears  a  name  likely  to  be  seen  in  print 
frequently  during  his  lifetime. 

What  sort  of  man  Terauchi  is  and  how  he  became 
Premier  of  Japan,  together  with  his  statements  in  two  or 
three  interviews  and  a  couple  of  public  utterances  made 
with  an  eye  to  the  reproduction  of  his  words  in  print,  may 
prove  of  interest  in  years  to  come. 

The  power  that  made  Terauchi  Premier,  and  what  that 
power  has  stood  for  in  the  past,  must  be  known  to  the 
thorough  student  of  Oriental  politics.  How  far  that 
power  could  mould  Terauchi  to  its  views,  if  such  views 
should  be  in  contradistinction  to  Terauchi 's  own,  time 
alone  could  tell. 

Viscount  Motono,  the  new  Foreign  Minister  of 
Terauchi's  Cabinet,  had  returned  to  Tokyo  from  his  post 
at  the  Japanese  Embassy  in  Petrograd,  but  had  unbur- 
dened himself  of  but  little  for  publication  as  to  his  ideas 
or  plans  before  I  left  Japan  in  the  closing  days  of  1916. 

In  September  I  talked  with  the  Okuma  Cabinet  mem- 
bers, who  preceded  Terauchi,  about  the  possibilities  of  his 
Premiership.  A  wise  Japanese  friend,  a  noble  statesman  of 
the  Choshu  clan,  to  which  Terauchi  belongs,  told  me  then 
that  Terauchi  was  to  be  Japan's  Premier  before  the  snows 
again  capped  Fujiyama.  Most  men  in  Tokyo  disagreed 
with  that  view. 

After  the  October  coup  of  the  Genro,  or  Elder  States- 
men, reminded  Japanese  Constitutionalism  that  it  was  a 
very  different  thing  from  the  Constitutionalism  of  the 
Western  world,  and  placed  Terauchi  in  the  Premiership,  I 
met  Terauchi  and  was  able  to  form  a  personal  estimate  of 
the  man. 

I  questioned  and  listened  to  dozens  of  informants  from 
many  walks  in  life  as  to  the  new  hands  on  the  reins  of 

219 


220  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

things.  Politicians,  military  ofiicers,  members  of  Japan's 
aristocracy,  diplomatic  folk,  business  men,  journalists, 
professional  men,  manufacturers,  Japanese,  British, 
Americans,  French,  Chinese — I  questioned  many,  many 
people  and  obtained  views  from  many,  many  standpoints. 

I  kept  the  files  of  half  a  dozen  newspapers  and  worked 
out  a  clippings  bureau,  with  translations. 

From  all  this  I  will  try  and  piece  out  the  story  of 
Terauchi.  It  may  be  of  value  to  those  who  would  follow 
the  trend  of  events  in  the  Pacific  in  the  coming  days ; 
days  which  may  be  full  to  overflowing  of  incident  of 
international  interest. 

Much  that  I  write  may  be  reiteration  of  much  that  is 
common  knowledge  in  the  Far  East,  but  I  am  anxious  to 
draw  a  picture  of  affairs  in  the  Pacific  in  191 6  in  such 
clear  outlines  that  no  mere  unfamiliarity  with  Oriental 
politics  will  serve  to  shroud  the  issues  at  stake  or  their 
importance  from  any  man  or  woman  of  Anglo-Saxon  line- 
age, who  is  willing  to  make  a  stand  for  that  which  the 
Allies  have  fought  for  in  the  theatre  of  war  in  Europe, 
the  inalienable  right  of  the  weak  nations  to  protection 
against  the  strong  who  would  rob  them  of  their 
sovereignty. 

A  principle  that  holds  good  in  such  measure  in  Belgium 
that  Britain  will  wage  war  in  defence  of  it  cannot  be  denied 
to  China  so  long  as  right  is  right  and  wrong  is  wrong. 

It  is  to  China  the  eyes  of  the  world  will  one  day  turn. 
That  day  may  not  be  far  distant.  Japan's  attitude  toward 
China  and  her  actions  in  pursuance  of  that  attitude  are 
among  the  greatest  factors  for  a  right  solution  or  a  wrong 
solution  of  China's  troubles.  China  herself  has  great 
responsibilities,  but  no  less  great  may  be  the  responsibili- 
ties of  Japan  in  connection  with  China.  Much  depended 
on  what  Terauchi,  as  representing  the  power  that  placed 
him  in  the  Premiership,  might  or  might  not  do. 

Difficult  indeed  would  be  the  situation  which  could  not 
be  so  successfully  manoeuvred  diplomatically  that  a  wide 
course  could  be  steered  away  from  possible  armed  conflict 
between  America  and  Japan.  No  sensible  faction  in  either 
country  has  ever  wanted  war. 

But  to  argue  that  there  exists  no  ill-feeling  between 
Japan  and  America  is  foolish.     Japanese  and  Americans 


TERAUGHI   AND    HIS    PREMIERSHIP     221 

in  the  Far  East  like  each  other  and  each  other's  national 
characteristics  no  better  than  do  the  Japanese  and  the 
British  in  the  Far  East.  Japan  and  America  have  more 
than  one  bone  of  contention  which  can  be  handled  sensibly 
and  the  rough  places  gradually  smoothed.  But  this  can- 
not be  accomplished  by  mouthing  empty  platitudes. 

Let  us  be  frank.  Nothing  is  gained  by  fatuousness. 
It  is  but  little  less  dangerous  than  foolish  jingoism. 

Preserve  us  from  men  of  the  Judge  Gary  type.  Gary 
is  at  the  head  of  the  great  American  Steel  Trust.  He 
made  a  tour  of  the  Far  East  in  the  latter  part  of  1916  and 
distributed  platitudes  with  a  lavish  hand.  He  returned  to 
America  and  kept  up  what  he  probably  would  describe  as 
"the  good  work." 

The  two  great  fundamental  truths  that  formed  the 
burthen  of  his  lay  were,  first,  that  neither  did  Japan  want 
war  with  America,  nor  America  want  war  with  Japan  in 
the  broad  sense,  which  means  little  when  one  gets  beyond 
superficialities,  and  that  Americans  and  Japanese  should 
co-operate  in  the  commercial  and  industrial  development  of 
the  Orient.  Concerning  what  that  meant  many  men  dis- 
agreed. The  most  prominent  newspaper  editor  in  Japan 
told  me  it  meant  thtit  American  capital  should  be  invested 
in  China,  and  possibly  in  Japan,  under  Japanese  super- 
vision and  control. 

"What !  "  I  said  in  surprise.  "Do  you  for  a  moment 
think  that  American  capitalists  will  place  their  money  in 
Japanese  hands  in  China?  Did  what  Gary  said  give  you 
such  an  idea?     Ridiculous!  " 

"Gary  gave  the  impression  repeatedly  in  Japan,"  was 
the  reply,  "and  has  given  it  in  his  speeches  since  his 
return  to  the  United  States,  that  Japan  has  the  right  to 
look  on  China  as  a  fellow-Oriental  state.  We  have  a  right 
to  a  Monroe  Doctrine  of  the  Far  East.    Gary  can  see  that." 

I  helped  demolish  that  editor's  hopes  that  Gary  would 
bring  many  Americans  to  such  a  point  of  vieAv. 

I  am  no  apostle  of  yellow  journalism  and  I  wave  no 
red  flag.  But  I  like  to  face  facts  squarely.  No  good  ever 
came  of  a  lavish  application  of  soft  soap  to  international 
matters.  Such  action  only  obscures  the  real  issues.  Most 
international  troubles  spring  from  international  misunder- 
standings.    The  closer  the  West  gets  to  the  real  truth  of 


222  THE    FAR   EAST   UNVEILED 

what  Japan  is  likely  to  do  in  the  Far  East  in  the  years  to 
come,  the  more  readily  we  can  follow  the  moves  in  the 
game. 

If  they  prove  to  be  right  and  proper  moves  naught  will 
suffer,  least  of  all  the  peace  of  the  Pacific. 

If  they  are  wrong  and  improper  moves,  the  peace  of 
the  Pacific  may  not  be  rudely  shattered  on  the  spur  of  the 
moment,  but  the  foundation  will  have  been  well  and  truly 
laid  for  a  future  struggle  of  magnitude. 

The  man  who  would  not  have  hoped  in  19 16  that  the 
Terauchi  Ministry  would  steer  the  right  and  proper  course 
would  have  been  worthy  of  condemnation. 

The  greatest  difficulty  lay  in  the  fact  that  what  might 
seem  right  and  proper  to  Terauchi  and  to  Japan  might  not 
seem  right  and  proper  to  the  rest  of  the  world. 

So  in  studying  Terauchi,  and  the  possibilities  of  his 
trend  of  action,  one  must  study,  too,  the  rights  and  wrongs 
of  things  in  the  Far  East,  from  the  Japanese  standpoint  as 
well  as  from  an  Anglo-Saxon  one.  One  might  find  a 
difficulty  in  agreeing,  at  times,  with  Japanese  ideas.  But 
to  appreciate  them  can  work  nothing  but  good. 

A  leader  writer  in  a  really  responsible  Tokyo  morning 
newspaper,  dealing  with  China,  said  in  1916,  in  so  many 
words,  that  might  was  right.  I  heard  army  men  in  Japan 
say  much  the  same  thing.  If  Japan's  national  policy 
should,  however  unlikely  such  a  consummation  might 
seem,  be  moulded  on  some  such  lines,  who  in  the  Western 
world  would  see  eye  to  eye  with  Japan  ? 

I,  for  one,  anticipate  no  such  impasse,  though  I  am 
fully  aware  that  Japan  and  the  West  may  not  see  Japan's 
ambitions,  and  her  actions  towards  the  realisation  of  them, 
in  the  same  light. 

Terauchi  was,  in  1916,  the  man  of  the  hour  in  Japan. 
Be  his  hour  long  or  short,  a  study  of  him  while  he  is  in 
the  limelight  is  necessary  to  the  close  observer  of  affairs 
in  the  East. 

For  Terauchi  was  not  only  Japan's  Premier.  He  was 
the  nominee  for  power  and  place  of  the  unseen  force  that 
directed  the  destinies  of  the  Island  Empire,  the  Military 
Party  of  Japan. 


CHAPTER    XLIV 

THE   COUP    OF   THE   GENRO    IN    I916 

The  morning  of  October  4,  1916,  saw  Marquis  Shigenobu 
Okuma  Premier  of  Japan.  Night  found  Field-Marshal 
Count  Masakata  Terauchi  in  the  Premiership. 

This  sudden  change  meant  many  things. 

Okuma,  seventy-eight  years  of  age,  often  called  the 
Grand  Old  Man  of  the  Japanese  political  world,  was  called 
in  April,  1914,  after  years  of  retirement  from  active  political 
work,  to  take  the  Premiership  at  a  critical  time.  The 
Yamamoto  Ministry  had  become  deeply  involved  in  an 
unsavoury  naval  scandal.  Japanese  politics  seethed  and 
boiled  and  bubbled. 

Okuma  was  chosen  by  the  Genro,  or  Elder  Statesmen, 
a  handful  of  old  men  who  act  as  an  advisory  board  to  the 
Emperor  of  Japan.  Okuma  could  not  at  that  time  be 
called  a  political  party  leader.  The  real  party  leaders  were 
each  involved  sufficiently  in  the  turmoil  to  be  unable  to 
command  a  majority  in  the  Diet  or  in  the  country.  So 
Okuma  was  chosen.  The  most  powerful  public  political 
party  at  that  time  was  the  Seiyukai.  It  had  the  largest 
following  in  the  Diet.  Eight  months  after  Okuma's 
appointment  as  Premier  his  continued  clashes  with  the 
Seiyukai  resulted  in  the  dissolution  of  Parliament.  May 
of  19 15  saw  a  general  election,  in  which  Okuma  won 
against  the  Seiyukai.  About  sixty  days  later,  another  of 
the  ever-recurring  Japanese  political  scandals  was  un- 
earthed. The  Home  Alinister  was  found  to  have  resorted 
to  open  and  flagrant  bribery  to  secure  the  passage  of  a  bill. 
He  confessed,  apologised,  retired  and  escaped  not  only 
further  punishment,  but  even  further  criticism  on  the  part 
of  the  bulk  of  the  Japanese  people.  But  Okuma's  Govern- 
ment easily  weathered  the  storm  and  remained  in  office. 

Okuma's  two  years  odd  of  administration  left  Japan  a 
participant  in  the  great  war  in  Europe,  soiled  her  diplo- 

223 


224  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

matic  record  with  the  pressure  on  China  of  the  Five  Group 
or  Twenty-One  Clause  Demands  and  negotiated  a  treaty 
between  Japan  and  Russia,  to  the  considerable  advantage 
of  the  former  Power. 

Why  did  Okuma  hand  over  the  Premiership  ? 

Okuma's  letter  of  resignation  to  the  Emperor  gave  a 
reason.  He  wrote,  "Now  I  have  reached  an  advanced  age, 
and  my  health  is  declining  and  I  fear  I  cannot  fulfil  the 
duties  of  my  office  longer.  Nor  do  I  deem  it  right  for  me 
to  stand  in  the  way  of  abler  and  better  men." 

That  sounded  reasonable  enough  for  a  man  of  seventy- 
eight  years. 

Viscount  Kato  said  point-blank,  in  a  speech  at  Sendai 
on  November  12,  that  Okuma  resigned  for  personal,  not 
political  reasons.  It  was  because  of  the  Premier's  ad- 
vanced age,  Kato  said. 

It  was  on  account  of  the  very  fact  that  Okuma's  resig- 
nation was  made  on  purely  personal  grounds,  Kato  con- 
tinued, that  the  retiring  Premier  had  a  right  to  appoint 
his  successor.  This  course  had  been  taken  by  two 
Japanese  Premiers  previously,  Katsura  and  Ito. 

It  was  also  taken  by  Marquis  Okuma  on  the  eventful 
October  4.  In  his  letter  of  resignation  to  the  Emperor  he 
wrote:  "I  believe  that  Viscount  Kato  is  a  man  of  rich 
experience  and  rare  ability,  and  in  addition  to  these  things 
he  is  backed  by  the  confidence  of  Your  Majesty's  people. 
I  humbly  beseech  Your  Majesty  to  accept  my  resignation 
and  to  appoint  Viscount  Kato  Prime  Minister  of  Japan,  as 
I  am  sure  he  would  give  his  best  services  to  the  country." 

But  the  Genro,  that  little  group  of  old  men,  said  "No." 

The  chronological  order  of  events  in  Tokyo  on  October 
4,  1916,  was  as  follows: 

At  10.30  a.m.  Okuma  waited  on  the  Emperor.  His 
resignation  was  tendered  and  accepted,  with  the  resigna- 
tions of  his  Cabinet  Ministers  and  their  underlings. 

As  Okuma  bowed  himself  out  of  the  Imperial  presence 
the  Genro  went  into  session  in  the  Palace.  Four  of  them 
there  were,  old  men  all.  Prince  Yamagata,  Prince  Oyama, 
Marquis  Matsukata  and  Marquis  Saionji  composed  the 
quartet. 

Before  tiffin-time  was  well  past  the  four  had  reported  to 
the  Emperor  that  their  choice  for  Premier  was  not  Viscount 


THE    COUP    OF    THE    GENRO    IN    1916       225 

Kato,  whom  Okunia  had  recommended,  but  Count 
Terauchi,  a  bureaucrat  of  the  powerful  military  element, 
with  Prince  Yamagata  at  their  head. 

The  Emperor  at  once  summoned  Terauchi  to  the 
Palace.  A  few  minutes  after  three  o'clock  he  arrived  on 
the  scene.  His  Majesty  told  him  of  the  Genro's  choice, 
offered  him  the  Premiership  and  ordered  him  to  form  a 
Cabinet.  By  four  o'clock  Terauchi  was  on  his  way  home, 
to  start  that  night  on  the  work  that  had  been  set  to  his 
hand. 

Quick  work,  that ! 

In  the  old,  slow,  temporising  Orient,  too.  It  was  no 
flash-in-the-pan  selection,  however.  Simply  the  form  of 
things  went  through  in  a  hurry.  The  real  scenes  in  the 
drama  had  been  enacted  weeks  or  months  before. 

Onlookers  scratched  their  heads  and  asked,  "Why  did 
Okuma  resign  ?  " 

Hugh  Byas,  the  editor  of  the  Japan  Advertiser  of 
Tokyo,  summed  up  the  situation  in  a  series  of  pertinent 
questions  as  follows  : 

"The  part  played  by  Marquis  Okuma  raises  a  number  of 
awkward  questions.  How  did  a  lifelong  fighter  for  constitu- 
tionalism and  party  government  allow  himself  to  bei  dished  so 
easily  by  his  old  enemies?  He  prepared  the  way  for  Viscount 
Kato  with  care.  Terauchi,  by  means  of  a  manoeuvre  which  is 
still  obscure,  got  his  chance  in  June,  but  nothing  came  of  it. 
The  coast  having  been  cleared  of  the  bureaucratic  candidate, 
the  Government  parties  unified  themselves  and  organised  the 
necessary  majority  for  Okuma's  successor.  Finally,  in  his 
letter  of  resignation,  Marquis  Okuma  formally  recommended 
Viscount  Kato.  This  was  the  step  which  seemed  to  prove 
everything  was  cut  and  dried,  for  before  Wednesday  who  would 
have  believed  that  Kato  would  expose  himself  to  an  open  slight, 
or,  alternatively,  that  the  Genro,  thus  challenged,  would  pub- 
licly disregard  the  only  course  which  was  in  harmony  with  the 
spirit  of  constitutional  government? 

"  The  fact  that  Viscount  Kato's  name  was  explicitly  and 
formally  put  forward  and  was  set  aside  in  favour  of  a  pure  and 
simple  bureaucrat  makes  the  blow  to  representative  institutions 
all  the  more  deadly.  But  why  should  Marquis  Okuma,  the  life- 
long fighter  for  constitutionalism  and  party  government,  have 
retired  without  guarantees?  He  was  under  no  necessity  to 
resign.  The  troubles  of  his  Ministry  were  no  more  formidable 
p 


226  THE    FAR    EAST   UNVEILED 

than  those  of  his  successors  are  likely  to  be.  His  programme 
was  uncompleted.  While  there  was  some  grumbling  no  really 
serious  discontent  was  exhibited  with  his  policy.  Why  should 
a  strong  Government  with  a  united  majority  be  bundled  out  of 
office  in  the  midst  of  profound  political  peace?  Granting-  that 
he  would  have  been  beaten  in  the  end,  it  was  still  possible  to 
make  a  fight  and  to  arouse  the  whole  country  to  the  defence 
of  representative  principles. 

"  Unless  Marquis  Okuma  has  some  answer  to  such  ques- 
tions we  must  expect  to  hear  more  about  those  doubts  regard- 
ing his  sincerity  which  the  Jiji  and  Asahi  expressed  on  the  day 
before  the  coup.  Not  the  least  piquant  feature  of  the  after- 
math will  be  the  explanation  by  the  lifelong  fighter  for  popular 
government  of  how,   in  the  end,  the  pass  was  lost." 

A  week  later  Mr.  Byas  interviewed  Okuma,  the  man 
"who  was  reduced  to  the  rank  of  a  private  subject  for  no 
apparent  reason." 

"Through  all  Okuma's  conversation,"  wrote  Byas,  "ran 
a  thread  of  optimism  which  was  hardly  expected  of  a  man 
who  has  been  so  severely  snubbed  as  it  appears  Okuma 
was.  But  the  one  question  of  the  day  on  which  Marquis 
Okuma  could  shed  some  eagerly  sought  light  went  un- 
answered. When  asked  about  the  reasons  for  his  resigna- 
tion and  why  no  fight  against  the  power  of  the  Genro  was 
made  by  the  champion  of  constitutional  government,  the 
former  Premier  diplomatically  avoided  answering  by  the 
simple  expedient  of  talking  about  something  else." 

Mr.  Byas's  experience  was  my  own.  Not  a  word  of 
definite  information  on  this  head  could  I  get  from  any 
authoritative  source  in  Tokyo. 

The  editor  of  the  Tokyo  Jiji  Shimbun  expressed  great 
dissatisfaction  with  Okuma's  attitude  toward  his  defeat  at 
the  hands  of  the  Genro.  "I  had  expected  that  Okuma 
would  fight  for  the  development  of  party  government," 
said  Mr.  Ishikawa,  the  editor  of  the  Jiji.  "If  his  recom- 
mendation of  Viscount  Kato  was  not  accepted  because  of 
the  interference  of  the  Genro,  he  should  have  started  to 
fight  the  Genro  then  and  there.  But  he  is  doing  nothing. 
I  doubt  whether  he  had  any  sincerity  in  recommending 
Viscount  Kato  to  the  Throne." 

No  wonder  they  all  wondered.  Naturally  they  doubted 
Okuma's  sincerity. 


I 


THE    COUP    OF    THE    GENRO    IN    1916      227 

Poor  Okuma  !  He  was  made  Premier  by  the  Genro, 
the  mouthpiece  of  the  Mihtary  Party,  which  was  the  real 
power  behind  the  scenes  in  Japan.  He  was  ordered  to  do 
this  and  that  during  his  couple  of  years  of  ofBce  and  when 
ordered  he  obeyed.  He  had  no  real  power.  As  to  foreign 
policy,  he  had  no  word  or  hand  in  it.  The  Military  Party 
dictated.     He  obeyed. 

At  the  end  he  made  an  attempt  to  gain  the  succession 
to  his  office  of  Premier  for  his  second  in  command, 
but  probably  knew  full  well  he  had  but  little  hope  of 
success. 

Naturally  he  betrayed  but  little  of  disappointment 
thereafter. 

Equally  naturally,  he  wasted  no  time  in  running  his 
aged  head,  which  the  years  have  robbed  of  most  of  its  white 
hairs,  against  the  stone  wall  of  the  hidden  yet  ever-present 
military  power. 

He  had  been  under  that  power  sufficiently  long  to  know 
its  extent  and  the  futility  of  fighting  it. 

He  hoped,  as  many  men  in  Japan  hoped,  for  a  better 
day,  when  the  passing  of  the  years  will  have  taken  to  their 
fathers  that  little  group  of  reactionary  old  men.  I 

"The  Genro  are  a  spent  force,"  Okuma  said.  "Their 
power  is  waning  with  their  physical  strength,  and  while  the 
Genro  of  to-day  may  be  succeeded  by  other  men  who  will 
bear  the  same  title  after  they  die,  their  political  influence 
cannot  be  passed  on.  As  a  power  in  the  politics  of  Japan 
they  are  rapidly  approaching  extinction. 

"They  are  not  gone  yet,  but  they  are  bound  to  go.  No 
matter  how  powerful  they  may  have  been  in  the  past,  their 
physical  strength  must  fail  them  and  their  mental  faculties 
grow  less  keen.  After  these  men  are  dead  tiieir  power  will 
be  dead  also.  Their  power  is  personal  and  cannot  be 
passed  on  ;  the  influence  of  the  Genro  of  to-day  cannot 
be  that  of  their  successors.  The  Genro  of  the  future 
will  be  of  no  more  account  than  the  Privy  Council  of 
England;  they  will  merely  reflect  the  glory  of  past 
greatness." 

Unquestionably  Marquis  Okuma  was  right. 

But  "they  are  not  gone  yet." 

There's  the  rub. 

The  man  they  had  so  arbitrarily  chosen  was  Premier. 


228  THE    FAR    EAST   UNVEILED 

What  could  they  not  bring  to  pass  before  the  close  of 
their  day  ? 

Whatever  the  future  might  hold  for  Japan  the  end  of 
1916  saw  her  apparently  bound  hand  and  foot  by  the 
Military  Party,  particularly  as  regarded  her  foreign  policy. 

No,  unfortunately,  the  Genro  was  "not  gone  yet." 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  Terauchi  had  come. 


CHAPTER    XLV 

SIDELIGHTS    FROM    THE    ASA  HI 

When  the  Genro  selected  Count  Terauchi  as  Premier  in 
the  face  of  Marquis  Okuma's  request  to  the  Emperor  that 
Viscount  Kato  should  follow  him  as  Premier,  the  Press 
of  Japan  fairly  howled  in  protest. 

Constitutional  government,  party  government,  the 
whole  cause  of  political  progress  toward  constitutionalism 
had  received  a  hard  blow. 

That  the  political  party  system  in  Japan  had  been  set 
back  to  the  point  where  it  stood  a  score  of  years  ago  was 
bound  to  cause  some  outcry. 

Remember  that  the  Press  of  Japan  has  ever  been 
thoroughly  controlled  by  the  great  powder  behind  the 
throne,  the  Military  Party.  When  a  national  policy  was 
to  be  promulgated  or  assisted  by  concerted  outcry  or  by 
silence,  the  tiat  went  forth,  and  to  hear  was  but  to  obey  on 
the  part  of  the  Japanese  papers. 

In  an  editorial,  the  Osaka  Asahi,  one  of  the  most  power- 
ful organs  of  the  Japanese  Press,  dealt  thus  with  the  sub- 
ject of  the  assistance  given  by  European  newspapers  to 
their  respective  countries  in  this  time  of  war:  "The 
Japanese  papers  also  have  helped  Japan  during  the  Chino- 
Japanese  and  the  Russo-Japanese  wars,  are  doing  so  at 
present,  and  will  do  so  in  the  future." 

The  action  of  the  Japanese  Press  as  a  whole  in  connec- 
tion with  the  Five  Group  Demands  from  China;  the  anti- 
British  and  anti-British-AlHance  campaign  during  the 
Great  War;  the  first  abortive  movement  to  induce  China  to 
join  the  Allies;  the  British  ban  on  Japanese  and  other 
foreign  hosiery  as  a  war  measure;  the  beginning  of  an 
American  non-political  loan  policy  in  China;  and  other 
equally  interesting  events  of  national  importance  showed 
how  the  Japanese  Press  came  to  heel  when  the  masters 
cracked  the  whip. 

229 


230  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

But  like  wise  masters,  the  Military  Party  in  Japan 
never  used  the  whip  save  in  instances  of  real  importance. 

By  howling  at  times  the  Press  disposed  of  its 
surplus  energy,  and  stimulated  its  own  idea  of  its  own 
importance. 

Beside,  the  Military  Party  cared  little  for  internal 
politics  and  internal  policies.  Why  should  it?  It  was  at 
the  head  and  could  remain  so,  it  thought,  regardless  of 
Diets,  or  parties,  or  majorities.  It  was  at  the  head,  as  it 
was  the  real  power,  though  not  necessarily  the  incumbent 
of  the  fancied  seat  of  power.  Just  as  the  Okuma  Govern- 
ment was  to  some  extent  unfettered  in  its  administration 
of  Japanese  internal  affairs  and  utterly  powerless  and  abso- 
lutely under  the  strictest  orders  as  regarded  foreign  policy, 
the  Press  in  Japan  was  dealt  with  in  much  the  same 
manner. 

I  consider  the  Tokyo  Asahi  the  best  newspaper  in 
Japan,  at  least  from  the  standpoint  of  its  leaders.  Its 
editor,  Mr.  K,  Sugimura,  is  a  conservative,  sensible  man, 
who  possesses  brains.  What  influence  the  Asahi  has  with 
the  rabble  I  do  not  know.  Little,  perhaps.  But  so  far  as 
the  newspapers  in  Japan  influence  the  political  opinion  of 
the  better  classes,  the  Asahi  carries  as  much  weight  as  any 
daily  paper  in  Japan. 

Before  Count  Terauchi  was  selected  by  the  Genro  as 
the  Emperor's  choice  for  Premier,  but  subsequent  to 
Marquis  Okuma's  statement  that  the  next  few  days  would 
see  his  retirement  from  political  life,  the  Asahi  spoke  as 
follows  : 

"There  will  be  no  peace  until  after  a  great  hurricane  in 
political  circles.  The  cause  of  this  storm  is  due  to  the  conflict 
of  old  and  new  ideas  of  government  in  Japan.  The  new  ideas 
stand  for  the  upholding-  of  the  rights  of  the  people,  and  the 
old  for  keeping  the  people  down.  Okuma  stands  for  the  new 
ideas  and  Terauchi  for  the  old.  While  this  conflict  may  not  be 
avoided,  it  is  regrettable  that  a  few  bureaucrats  should  be 
allowed  thus  to  try  to  trample  the  will  of  the  many.  It  is  a 
dangerous  thing  for  the  nation." 

The  Asahi  did  not  rush  into  print  after  the  coup  of  the 
Military  Party  on  October  4,  1916.  But  a  few  days  later 
it  came  out  strongly,  but  temperately,  in  opposition  to  the 


SIDELIGHTS    FROM    THE    ASAHI         231 

new  order  of  things.  "The  Genro,"  Mr.  Sugimura's 
paper  said,  "are  not  recognised  in  the  Japanese  Constitution 
nor  in  the  laws  of  Japan.  The  Genro  are  recognised  by 
the  Throne  as  the  Elder  Statesmen,  who  rendered  good 
services  since  the  restoration  of  the  Emperor  Meiji.  But 
they  should  have  no  political  power.  The  Premier  is  the 
chief  executive  of  the  nation.  When  the  Genro,  who  have 
no  place  in  the  constitution,  exercise  so  great  an  influence 
as  they  have  done  in  appointing  Count  Terauchi  Premier, 
a  ministry  which  will  be  formed  by  that  influence  cannot 
be  a  constitutional  ministry.  If  the  leader  of  any  political 
party  in  Japan  tries  to  support  the  Choshu  (Terauchi) 
Ministry,  he  will  be  an  enemy  of  constitutional  govern- 
ment." Thus  reasoning,  the  Asahi  predicted  the  dissolu- 
tion of  the  Diet  in  the  spring  of  1917,  and  the  subsequent 
defeat  at  the  polls  of  the  Terauchi  Ministry. 

A  few  days  later  the  Asahi  printed  a  leader,  in  which 
it  dubbed  the  new  Ministry  a  "House  of  Peers  Ministry." 
The  ministerial  change,  it  said,  meant  in  a  way  the  defeat 
of  the  Okuma  Ministry  at  the  hands  of  the  Peers.  "On 
the  whole,"  was  its  conclusion,  "all  this  means  a  fight  of 
the  House  of  Peers  against  the  nation.  The  nation  should 
watch  the  developments  carefully." 

After  Viscount  Kato's  snub  at  the  hands  of  the  Genro 
came  the  final  moves  in  the  game  of  organising  into  one 
body  the  three  parties,  the  Doshikai,  the  Chuseikai,  and  the 
Koyu  Club,  which  had  each  been  a  supporter  of  the  Okuma 
Ministry  and  given  it  a  majority  in  the  Diet.  The  Asahi 
made  some  pertinent  comments  on  the  conclusion  of  this 
amalgamation.  After  a  long  history  of  the  elements  of  the 
combination,  the  Asahi  declared  that  the  lack  of  confidence 
of  the  Japanese  people  in  Japanese  political  parties  was 
due  to  the  lack  of  continuity  in  the  policy  of  Japan's  states- 
men. The  Asahi  reviewed  the  statements  of  the  party 
leaders  and  waxed  pessimistic.  It  declared  them  indiffer- 
ent to  the  appearance  of  the  Terauchi  Ministry,  which 
consistency  demanded  they  should  fight  to  the  death,  and 
wound  up  thus  :  "The  new  party  may  some  day  surrender 
to  the  Terauchi  Ministry,  we  are  afraid." 

Commenting  on  Terauchi's  long-winded  address  before 
a  conference  of  prefectural  governors,  the  Asahi  criticised 
the  new  Premier  trenchantly.     It  protested  that  Terauchi 


232  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

had  enumerated  many  problems  but  had  told  how  none  of 
them  was  to  be  solved.  "The  Ministry,"  said  the  Asahi, 
"do  not  realise  their  constitutional  responsibility  to  the 
nation." 

The  Asahi,  Mr.  Sugimura  told  me,  stood  for  real  con- 
stitutional advance  in  Japan  and  therefore  could  not  look 
with  friendly  eye  on  Terauchi's  advent  as  Premier. 

But  what  of  the  Asahi's  point  of  view  on  foreign 
affairs  ?  I  select  three  topics,  each  of  which  may  be  termed 
a  bone  of  contention  in  the  Far  East.  First,  Japan's  policy 
toward  China;  next,  Japan's  attitude  toward  the  exclusion 
of  Japanese  labour  from  America;  and  third,  Japan's  feel- 
ing on  the  subject  of  the  increasing  tendency  of  American 
capital  to  find  investment  in  the  development  of  China's 
immense  natural  resources.  What  had  the  Asahi  to  say 
on  such  themes  ? 

At  the  end  of  September,  19 16,  just  before  the  Okuma 
Ministry  resigned,  the  Asahi  criticised  the  Government  for 
its  failure  to  secure  certain  benefits  for  Japan  in  China. 
All  recent  collisions  of  Japanese  and  Chinese  troops  in 
south  Manchuria  and  eastern  Mongolia,  such  as  the  Cheng 
Chia  Tung  incident,  were  tarred  with  the  same  brush. 
"In  these  cases,"  the  Asahi  said,  "the  Chinese  soldiers, 
relying  upon  their  numbers,  attacked  the  Japanese  guards 
or  fired  on  the  Japanese  flag.  Even  several  Japanese  sol- 
diers have  been  killed.  The  Chinese  Government  should 
by  now  have  realised  the  situation  fully.  But  unexpectedly 
it  has  twisted  the  facts,  and  the  negotiations  on  those  in- 
cidents have  not  been  concluded  as  yet."  This  the  Asahi 
flatly  characterised  as  failure  of  Japanese  diplomacy.  That 
the  Chinese  were  right  and  the  Japanese  aggressors  wrong 
it  would  probably  never  believe.  The  Asahi  once  described 
the  situation  in  China  at  the  time  of  Yuan  Shih  Kai's 
death,  and  then  proceeded  to  review  subsequent  events. 
"The  Japanese  Government,"  it  said,  "wished  to  help  the 
North  and  South  of  China  to  compromise  and  to  promote 
friendship  between  Japan  and  China.  With  that  object  in 
view,  we  refrained  from  insisting  upon  many  things  upon 
which  we  should  have  insisted." 

Poor  China  !  So  she  escaped  some  demands  which 
Japan  might  have  made,  after  all  ! 

"But   the    recent   political   conditions   in   China,"  con- 


SIDELIGHTS    FROM    THE    AS  AH  I         233 

tinued  the  Asahi,  "show  no  sign  of  appreciation  by  China 
of  Japan's  efforts." 

Efforts  to  what  end?  Efforts  of  self-repression  and 
self-denial  with  regard  to  those  further  demands  that 
might  have  been  made  by  Japan  at  a  time  when  all  the  rest 
of  the  world  was  too  busy  to  bother  ? 

Then  this.  The  Asahi  told  of  the  two  parties  that 
existed  in  China,  the  northern  group  under  Chang  Hsun, 
and  the  radical  members  of  the  assembly.  Premier  Tuan 
Chi  Jui  and  his  colleagues,  were  a  sort  of  third  party,  at 
that  time  sitting  on  the  fence.  "So,"  the  Asahi  said, 
"there  are  three  factors  in  China  now  to  reckon  with,  as  in 
Mexico.  This  is  against  the  wishes  of  Japan.  It  is  a 
great  failure  of  Japanese  diplomacy."  So  the  fact  that 
China  was  cursed  with  two  contending  political  parties 
and  a  Government  that  tried  to  compromise  with  each 
group  was  Japan's  fault.  I  confess  the  Asahi  was  a  little 
hard  to  follow  along  that  line.  But  the  arrogance  of  its 
tone  toward  China  and  China's  affairs  was  undeniable. 

How  did  the  Asahi  look  upon  Japanese-American 
affairs?  One  might  judge  from  a  leader  that  appeared  the 
day  before  Count  Terauchi  was  made  Premier  of  Japan. 
Baron  Sakatani,  a  strong  Terauchi  supporter,  was  on  his 
way  home  from  the  Allied  Economic  Conference  in  Paris. 
When  in  New  York  he  gave  a  newspaper  interview  in 
which  he  said  Japan  was  only  waiting  until  the  end  of  the 
present  great  war  to  reopen  the  question  of  America's 
treatment  of  the  Japanese.  Some  member  of  the  staff  of 
the  Japanese  Embassy  at  Washington  talked  on  this  sub- 
ject and  supported  Sakatani's  view.  Thereupon  the  coun- 
cillor of  the  Embassy  issued  an  official  statement  to  the 
effect  that  the  Embassy  and  the  Japanese  Government  at 
home  in  Tokyo  harboured  no  such  intentions. 

The  Asahi  voiced  the  opinions  of  the  majority  of  in- 
fluential Japanese  in  its  leader  on  this  subject.  It  rebuked 
the  councillor  of  the  Japanese  Embassy  in  Washington 
for  denying  what  Baron  Sakatani  had  declared  was  the 
feeling  of  the  Japanese.  "Baron  Sakatani,"  said  the 
Asahi,  "was  right.  He  gave  voice  to  the  sentiment  of  the 
Japanese  nation.  That  the  Japanese-American  problem 
must  be  solved  in  due  course  of  time  is  a  proper  thing  to 
say.     The  Gentlemen's  Agreement  was  not  a  fundamental 


234  THE    FAR    EAST   UNVEILED 

solution.  It  was  only  a  temporising  method.  The  wish 
of  the  Japanese  nation  is  that  the  two  nations  will  come  to 
a  perfect  understanding  of  each  other,  so  that  the  issues 
pending  may  be  solved  satisfactorily  to  all  concerned." 

That  sounds  quite  conservative,  when  compared  with 
the  statement  of  Baron  Makino,  when  Minister  of  Foreign 
Affairs,  in  a  speech  to  the  Diet.  Baron  Makino  said: 
"The  Imperial  Government  have  found  the  replies  of  the 
American  Government  not  at  all  satisfactory  and  recog- 
nises the  necessity  of  elaborating  other  plans  for  the 
solution  of  the  pending  questions.  As  regards  the  nature 
of  such  plans,  the  time  to  report  them  has  not,  to  our 
regret,  arrived."  Baron  Makino  was  a  Choshu  clansman 
like  Count  Terauchi,  and  when  Terauchi  became  Premier 
of  Japan  seven  men  out  of  every  ten  in  Tokyo  predicted 
that  Makino  would  be  Terauchi 's  Home  Minister.  He  did 
not  actually  join  the  Terauchi  Cabinet,  but  was  a  strong 
supporter  of  it.  So  the  Asahi  seemed  hardly  likely  to  be 
much  out  of  line  with  Terauchi  on  the  subject  of  Japanese- 
American  affairs. 

Closely  allied  to  the  foregoing  question  was  that  of  the 
Investment  of  American  capital  in  China.  Japan  had  said 
It  would  be  welcomed,  with  an  "  if."  That  "  if  "  apparently 
was  meant  to  be,  "if  it  is  placed  in  Japanese  hands  or 
under  Japanese  control  for  investment  in  China."  In  a 
long  leader  in  November,  1916,  the  Asahi  discussed  the 
Siems-Carey  Company's  loan  scheme  for  American  con- 
struction of  1,500  miles  of  railway  line  in  China,  of  which 
more  anon.  "The  Chinese  Government,"  said  the  Asahi, 
"is  indeed  very  insincere  in  concluding  such  a  contract, 
disregarding  the  already  acquired  rights  of  others. 
Although  it  is  a  good  thing  to  iDuild  railways  in  China  in 
order  to  help  develop  the  civilisation  of  that  country,  yet 
the  Chinese  Government  should  be  a  little  more  careful  in 
making  railway  contracts,  always  taking  thought  as  to  the 
already  acquired  rights  of  the  foreign  Powers  before 
entering  into  any  new  contract." 

That  effusion  from  a  Japanese  newspaper,  remembering 
the  railways  Japan  proposed  to  construct  in  China  under  the 
Five  Group  Demands,  was  indeed  indicative  of  the  Japanese 
way  of  looking  at  Japanese  foreign  policy.  To  take  thought 
of   the   already   acquired   rights  of  nnvone  else   in   China 


SIDELIGHTS    FROM   THE    ASAHI         235 

would  have  been  a  good  line  for  the  Asahi  to  have  sug- 
gested to  the  Okuma  Government.  To  suggest  that  Japan 
should  take  thought  for  the  rights  of  China  itself  would  be 
more  to  the  point. 

The  foregoing  are  a  few  sidelights  on  the  tone  adopted 
by  the  best  and  most  conservative  of  Japan's  newspapers. 
It  was  anti-Terauchi,  in  so  far  as  the  new  Premier  was 
chosen  in  defiance  of  what  Western  nations  would  term 
constitutional  usage.  The  internal  policy  of  the  Asahi  was 
clear  on  that  subject. 

Would  the  Asahi  be  likely  to  express  a  foreign  policy 
at  variance  with  that  of  the  Terauchi  Ministry? 

If  not,  it  would  have  to  adopt  new  views. 


CHAPTER    XLVI 

JAPANESE   NEWSPAPERS    ON   TERAUCHl's   APPOINTMENT 

The  Press  of  Japan,  responsible  or  irresponsible,  with  the 
exception  of  a  Tokyo  rag  called  the  Sekai,  and  Tokutomi's 
Tokyo  Kokumin  Shimbun,  took  up  the  hue  and  cry  against 
the  appointment  of  Count  Terauchi  as  Premier  in 
October,  1916. 

The  Press  was  ostensibly  fighting  for  real  constitu- 
tionalism for  Japan  and  a  recognition  in  Japan  of  the  spirit 
of  party  government. 

The  Yorodzu,  one  of  the  half-dozen  most  influential 
papers  printed  in  Tokyo,  attacked  Terauchi  bitterly.  It 
said  editorially  : 

*'  Unless  a  man  is  acquainted  with  economic  questions  he 
cannot  become  a  great  statesman.  Count  Terauchi  does  not 
know  anything  about  economic  questions.  Ihe  failure  of  Count 
Terauchi  in  economic  circles  has  been  proven  In  his  adminis- 
tration in  Korea.  Count  Terauchi  robbed  the  liberty  of  the 
people  in  Korea.  The  fact  that  the  Terauchi  Ministry  was 
recommended  forcibly  by  the  Genro  forebodes  ill  for  the  future. 
Newspapers  will  be  suppressed,  the  liberty  of  the  people  will 
be  robbed,  and  the  nation  generally  oppressed.  The  rise  of  the 
clansmen  in  power  will  hinder  progress  of  constitutional 
government  in  Japan." 

The  Yorodzu  in  a  later  leader  said  : 

*'  Count  Terauchi  professes  to  follow  In  the  main  the  poli- 
cies of  the  Okuma  Ministry,  except  as  regards  diplomacy  and 
defence.  By  diplomacy  is  meant  the  China  policy.  If  so,  the 
militaristic  faction,  with  the  Choshu  clan  as  the  centre,  which 
has  obstructed  the  China  diplomacy  of  the  Okuma  Ministry 
in  the  past  and  caused  many  failures  of  that  Ministry,  will 
carry  further  its  militaristic  diplomacy.  If  that  be  done  the 
antipathy  between  Japan  and  China  will  never  be  removed,  and 

236 


JAPANESE   NEWSPAPERS  ON  TERAUGHI  237 

the  ills  of  the  Orient  will  be  increased.  We  maintain  that  the 
failures  of  our  China  diplomacy  in  the  past  were  not  due  to 
the  faults  of  the  diplomatic  oflicials,  but  to  the  faults  of  the 
militarists.  The  diplomatic  oflicials  have  been  overawed  by 
the  militarists,  so  that  the  latter  were  practically  able  to  carry 
out  their  own  selfish  plans.  The  Terauchi  Ministry  now  ex- 
pects to  conduct  its  China  diplomacy  from  the  War  Office, 
since  Viscount  Motono,  who  does  not  know  much  about  China, 
is  to  become  the  Foreign  Minister.  Viscount  Motono  is 
expected  to  do  the  bidding  of  the  militarists." 

A  third  editorial  from  the  Yorodzu  read  thus  : 

"  The  personality  of  the  Terauchi  Ministry  is  of  a  very 
dangerous  nature.  Count  Terauchi  is  known  as  an  uncon- 
stitutional man.  For  years  he  brandished  his  sabre  in  Korea. 
The  people  are  now  afraid  that  he  is  about  to  flourish  the 
power  of  the  sabre  in  Japan.  Baron  Goto,  the  Home  Minister, 
who  may  be  considered  the  assistant  Premier,  is  known  as  a 
man  who  goes  astray.  No  one  can  tell  what  madness  he  will 
exhibit.  Baron  Den,  Minister  of  Communications,  was  a  mere 
bureaucrat  while  he  was  serving  in  the  Government  before. 
Ten  years  of  idleness  has  made  him  wild,  and  he  has  become 
known  as  leader  of  intriguers  in  the  House  of  Peers.  As  to 
Mr.  Nakashoji,  Minister  of  Agriculture  and  Commerce,  the 
people  throughout  the  country  dread  him.  The  appointment 
of  Matsumuro  as  the  Minister  of  Justice  foreshadows  judicial 
irregularities.  The  educational  circles  contracted  their  brows 
when  Mr.  Okada  was  made  Minister  of  Education." 

The  Yorodzu  kept  up  this  strain  at  some  length, 
culminating-  in   this  outburst  : 

"  Some  people  call  the  new  Ministry  a  Ministry  of  mad 
dogs,  because  the  elements  that  compose  it  are  all  dangerous 
like  mad  dogs.  Mad  dogs  should  be  tied  with  a  chain.  But 
now  the  Ministry  composed  of  dangerous  mad  dogs  is  at  large. 
There  is  no  telling  when  and  how  and  whom  the  mad  dogs 
will  bite." 

I  could  not  refrain  from  posting  to  the  editor  of  the 
Yorodzu  an  intimation  that  Baron  Sakatani  had  been 
offered  the  important  post  of  ^Minister  of  Finance  in  the 
Terauchi  Cabinet,   and  that  Baron  Sakatani  had  written 


238  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

the  following  sentence  for  publication  in  Japan,  over 
his  own  signature:  "Militarism  and  nationalism  will 
gradually  increase  in  Japan  as  a  result  of  the  war  in 
Europe,  and  therefore  Japan  ought  to  strengthen  her 
armaments  and  plan  to  expand  the  Japanese  race  by 
means  of  force  :  in  other  words,  to  follow  the  example  of 
Germany." 

About  a  week  after  Count  Terauchi  was  appointed 
Premier  one  hundred  newspaper  men  met  in  Tokyo  to 
demonstrate  against  the  unconstitutionality  of  the  Terauchi 
Ministry.  Mr.  J.  Iwasa  of  the  Yorodsu  delivered  the 
opening  address.  Mr.  Susaki  of  the  Hochi,  the  Tokyo 
organ  of  Marquis  Okuma,  was  chairman  of  the  meeting. 
Speeches  were  made  by  journalists  from  all  parts  of 
Japan,  and  resolutions  adopted  condemning  the  arbitrary 
over-riding  of  Japanese  constitutionalism  by  the  aged 
bureaucratic  Elder  Statesmen. 

The  Hochi  was,  of  course,  loud  in  its  outcries  against 
"the  outrageous  Genro  "  the  moment  Terauchi  was  made 
Premier.  Many  leaders  voiced  its  injured  feelings.  The 
following  is  a  sample  excerpt : 

"The  Genro  did  not  give  His  Majesty  enough  time  to 
think  the  matter  over,  but  demanded  that  an  immediate  de- 
cision be  made  on  the  question  of  the  Ministerial  change. 
They  have  insulted  the  intelligence  of  His  Majesty.  Such  an 
outrage  should  not  be  permitted  in  this  enlightened  age.  It 
is  strange  that  the  people  do  not  rise  against  such  an  outrage. 
It  shows  a  decline  of  reverence  for  the  Emperor.  The  Genro 
have  usurped  the  power  and  the  prerogative  of  the  Emperor. 
They  must  be  annihilated." 

Such  vapouring  worried  no  one,  least  of  all  the  Genro. 

The  Mainichi  of  Tokyo  was  sharply  critical  of  one  of 
Terauchi's  first  speeches  in  which  he  dealt  with  his 
prospective  policies.  It  found  nothing  new  in  Terauchi's 
expression.  "Anyone  may  say  them,  and  has  said  them," 
the  editor  of  the  Mainichi  remarked.  "I  see  in  this,"  he 
continued,  "that  the  Terauchi  Ministry  means  to  rule  the 
nation  despotically.  The  nation  will  go  back  to  the 
despotic  rule  of  the  few."  In  another  leader  the  Mainichi 
urged  on  the  people  of  Japan  to  begin  resolutely  the 
attack  upon  the  Genro  and  the  bureaucrats. 


JAPANESE  NEWSPAPERS  ON  TERAUCHI  239 

The  Osaka  Asahi  said : 

"  We  consider  Count  Terauchi  unfit  to  be  an  organiser  of 
a  Ministry.  In  Korea  Count  Terauchi  blocked  the  way  for  a 
free  Press.  He  oppressed  the  high-spirited  newspaper  men  and 
bought  weak-minded  journalists,  so  that  there  was  an  apparent 
peace  in  Korea.  What  inconvenience  and  disadvantage  the 
Koreans  and  the  Japanese  had  to  suffer  during  this  period  of 
six  years  of  apparent  peace  is  beyond  estimate.  When  the 
Terauchi  Ministry  was  formed,  the  Japanese  in  Korea  were 
sorry  for  the  home  country  of  Japan,  but  they  were  glad  that 
Count  Terauchi  had  left  Korea.  Count  Terauchi  may  have 
been  strenuous  during  the  six  years  of  his  administration  of 
Korea,  but  he  has  not  left  any  mark  of  services  rendered  for 
Korea  save  the  record  of  police  interference  and  hindrance  of 
general  progress." 

The  Tokyo  Jiji  was  for  constitutionalism  and  against 
Terauchi  in  a  mild  way.  The  fence  apparently  seemed  a 
fine  place  to  Mr.  Ishikawa,  its  editor.  The  finale  of  one 
of  his  leaders  supporting  a  fight  for  constitutionalism  was 
lukewarm.  Speaking  of  the  Terauchi  Ministry,  the  Jiji 
described  it  as  "an  exceptional  thing."  "But,"  was  its 
comment,  "flowers  bloom  in  the  fall  as  in  the  spring. 
There  must  have  been  circumstances  which  enabled  the 
super-party  Ministry  to  form  itself,  for  no  flower  will  bloom 
in  the  cold  weather  of  winter.  We  shall  watch  and  com- 
ment after  the  formation  of  Count  Terauchi's  Ministry." 

Early  in  November  the  editor  of  the  Tokyo  Asahi 
summed  up  his  attitude  as  follows  : 

"  No  matter  how  well-meaning  the  Terauchi  Ministry  may 
be  in  trying  to  give  good  government  to  the  nation,  they  have 
erred  at  the  start  in  point  of  constitutionality.  So  no  amount 
of  good  they  may  do  will  be  able  to  atone  for  the  sin  which 
they  have  committed  against  constitutional  progress  in  Japan." 

No  fence-top  for  Mr.  Sugimura,  the  editor  of  the  Asahi. 
He  stood  by  his  guns,  the  staunch  supporter  of  Viscount 
Kato's  new  party,  the  K^enseikai,  the  party  in  opposition 
to  the  Terauchi  Ministry,  that  swore  to  leave  no  stone 
unturned  to  secure  its  dowmfall. 

The  Chuwo  of  Tokyo  was  so  bitter  against  Okuma  it 
could  hardly  batter  Terauchi.     Its  leaders  placed  its  editor 


240  THE    FAR    EAST   UNVEILED 

on  the  top  rail  with  the  editor  of  the  Jiji.  It  mildly 
criticised  Terauchi,  but  slapped  at  his  vigorous  detractors 
in  this  wise  : 

"  The  Chwwo  does  not  like  the  term  rebels  as  used  by  the 
critics  of  the  Terauchi  Ministry  and  applied  to  the  Genre.  It 
is  not  that  the  Genro  are  rebelling  against  the  Emperor,  but 
against  Marquis  Okuma,  so  the  term  rebels  is  a  misnomer." 

In  a  later  leader  the  Chuwo  said  : 

"  We  find  no  strong  reason  why  an  anti-clan  movement 
need  be  started  now,  because  the  clan  clique  and  the  bureau- 
crats are  now  tottering  to  a  fall  of  their  own  accord.  The 
political  parties  have  gradually  come  into  power.  A  fight 
between  the  Genro  and  the  political  parties  is  bound  to  end  in 
the  defeat  of  the  former.  The  political  parties  have  come  to 
realise  their  power,  so  that  they  are  rather  indifferent  to  the 
anti-clique  movement,  because  they  know  that  the  clan  in- 
fluence will  wane  of  its  own  accord  without  hindrance." 

The  Chugai  Shogyo  said  it  did  not  approve  of  the  new 
Ministry  in  the  main.  "It  is  like  a  cherry  blossom,"  said 
the  editor,  "blooming  in  the  fall  when  it  should  bloom 
in  the  spring.  The  new  Ministry  looks  rather  poor,  and 
does  not  promise  a  long  life.  But  a  child  weak  at  birth 
may  sometimes  grow  to  be  a  strong  man.  So,  if  the 
Terauchi  Ministry  should  work  hard  and  earnestly,  there 
is  a  possibility  of  its  becoming  a  powerful  ministry." 
Surely  some  of  the  other  editors  would  have  to  make  a 
space  on  the  fence  for  the  editor  of  the  Chugai  Shogyo. 

The  Nichi-Nichi,  of  Tokyo,  characterised  Count 
Terauchi  as  a  very  timid  and  careful  man.  "While  he 
may  be  considered  as  a  militaristic  statesman  at  home," 
said  the  Nichi-Nichi,  "in  foreign  affairs  he  takes  a  rather 
mild  view.  The  Japanese  are  rather  afraid  that  the 
Terauchi  Ministry  may  be  backward  in  China  diplomacy." 
Anything  short  of  rampant  jingoism,  regardless  of  morals 
or  right,  would  be  a  mild  policy  toward  China  in  the 
estimation  of  the  Nichi-Nichi,  however. 

These  quotations  give  a  rough  sketch  of  the  stand 
taken  by  the  most  influential  Japanese  newspapers  on 
Count  Terauchi's  premiership  and  the  manner  of  his 
appointment. 


JAPANESE   NEWSPAPERS  ON  TERAUGHI  241 

The  Sekai  I  have  not  quoted,  nor  the  Kokumin.  The 
Sekai  was  hardly  worth  quoting.  It  was  a  poor  rag  and 
its  leaders  were  usually  impregnated  with  dry  rot.  It 
declared  in  the  beginning  that  Count  Terauchi  had  the 
confidence  of  the  nation.  It  was  controlled  by  the  Genro, 
whom  it  lauded  to  the  Japanese  skies.  "The  strength  of 
the  Terauchi  Ministry,"  its  editor  wrote  pompously,  "lies 
in  the  fact  that  the  political  parties  are  irresolute  and  in- 
decisive. The  super-party  Ministry  of  Terauchi  can  do 
what  it  pleases  because  it  does  not  need  to  consult  political 
parties."  The  Sekai  stumbled  on  a  home-truth  that  time, 
and  no  mistake. 

As  to  the  Kokumin,  that  doughty  journal,  edited  by 
the  equally  doughty  Tokutomi,  was  clearly  the  accepted 
champion  of  Terauchi  and  his  appointment. 


CHAPTER    XLVII 

A   SUPPORTER  OF  TERAUCHI 

Mr.  J.  ToKUTOMi,  editor  of  the  Tokyo  Kokumin  Shimhun, 
was  to  me  the  most  interesting  character  in  the  news- 
paper world  in  Japan.  He  has  become  very  prominent 
in  Japan. 

As  an  American  I  was  the  more  eager  to  talk  to 
Tokutomi  after  reading  the  following  leader  from  his  pen, 
which  appeared  in  February,    1916: 

"  In  speculating  about  the  future,  bearing  in  mind  what  has 
occurred  in  the  past,  my  brain  is  always  cudgelled  with  the 
question  :  Which  side  will  England  take  in  the  event  of  a  war 
between  Japan  and  America?  This  may  be  a  delicate  question 
to  ask,  but  nothing  is  more  important  than  this  problem,  which 
remains  for  the  Japanese  to  solve.  Great  Britain  betrayed  at 
the  third  revision  of  the  Anglo-Japanese  Alliance  that  she  was 
ready  to  desert  Japan  for  America's  sake.  Should  this  be 
pondered  thoughtfully,  it  must  be  concluded  that  Great  Britain's 
aid  will  not  be  of  much  use  to  the  Japanese  nation  when  a  war 
with  America  has  taken  place.  Probably,  the  British  may  not 
openly  antagonise  Japan  in  their  support  of  America ;  but  it  is 
indisputable  that  to  rely  too  much  upon  their  help  would  be 
very  dangerous  optimism." 

I  am  tempted  to  quote  a  few  lines  of  comment  on  this 
leader  of  Tokutomi 's,  written  by  George  Bronson  Rea,  the 
proprietor  and  publisher  of  The  Far  Eastern  Review,  the 
paper  which  Jeremiah  W.  Jenks  calls  "the  most  important 
serious  publication  in  Asia."    Mr.  Rea  said  : 

"The  Kokumin  is  one  of  the  most  influential  papers  in 
Japan.  This  leading  editorial  was  written  at  the  time  when  the 
Japanese  were  promoting  their  mooted  alliance  with  Russia. 
At  that  time,  Japanese  papers  openly  expressed  the  opinion 
that   the   Russo-Japanese   alliance   was   aimed   directly   against 

242 


A    SUPPORTER    OF    TERAUGHI  243 

America.  And  remember  that  not  merely  a  rigid  police  censor- 
ship, but  a  super-censorship  aimed  specially  at  all  references 
or  comments  in  regard  to  foreign  policy,  is  strictly  maintained 
by  the  Japanese  Government." 

When  I  had  read  the  leader  from  which  I  have  quoted, 
I  thought:  "Evidently  friend  Tokutomi  has  held  consist- 
ently to  his  policy,  a  policy  that  ever  keeps  in  mind  a  pos- 
sible future  collision  between  Japan  and  America.  To  his 
way  of  thinking  such  a  conflict  is  in  the  international  wind, 
scheduled  for  'one  day'  to  come."  I  had  laid  away  an 
excerpt  from  the  Kokumin,  another  editorial  by  Tokutomi, 
which  appeared  not  many  years  ago.    It  read  thus  : 

"  We  doubt  whether  relations  with  America  can  be  im- 
proved by  the  present  methods  of  shaking  hands  and  exchang- 
ing cordial  compliments.  In  answer  to  Japan's  complaints 
against  injustice  to  her  nationals,  America  merely  sends  over 
messengers  to  tell  the  Japanese  how  much  America  loves  them, 
a  policy  which  is  evidently  futile.  The  friendship  of  the  two 
nations  cannot  be  preserved  for  any  length  of  time  on  a  basis 
of  discrimination.  If  America  really  cares  for  friendship  with 
the  Japanese  she  should  accord  them  equal  treatment  with 
Europeans.  So  long  as  Japanese  are  subjected  to  discrimina- 
tory treatment  in  any  part  of  the  United  States,  there  is  no 
hope  of  any  permanent  friendship  between  the  two  nations." 

George  Bronson  Rea  wrote  an  article  in  which  he  quoted 
this  leader  of  Tokutomi's  which  so  trenchantly  discussed 
Japanese-American  relations.  Right  alongside  it  Rea  put 
what  he  termed  an  illuminating  comment,  culled  from  The 
Japan  Monthly  of  August,  1914.    That  comment  ran  thus  : 

"  Australia  is  a  British  Colony,  but  its  geographical  posi- 
tion and  the  temper  of  its  people  hold  the  country  in  closer 
touch  with  the  United  States  than  with  its  fatherland,  says  the 
Kokumin,  and  a  federation  of  ideas  and  communications 
between  Australia  and  the  United  States  seems  to  have  been 
effected.  Whatever  is  proposed  in  America  is  copied  by 
Australia,  and  in  following  in  the  footsteps  of  America, 
Australia  totally  disregards  the  sentiment  at  home." 

Presumably,  "at  home"  meant  in  England. 


244  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

"  So  the  people  of  Australia  passed  a  law  barring  Asiatic 
labour  from  its  shores,  after  the  United  States  had  effected  it. 
Our  diplomats  deal  with  any  problem  that  occurs  in  Australia 
through  the  Foreign  Office  in  England;  this  is  proper,  indeed, 
but  they  should  not  forget  the  fact  that  all  questions  affecting 
Japanese  in  Australia  can  be  traced  to  the  United  States,  and 
unless  a  fundamental  solution  is  made  with  America,  no  satis- 
factory result  can  be  expected  by  direct  negotiations  with 
Australia  through  the  British  Foreign  Office." 

To  put  Mr.  Tokutomi's  opinions  properly  before  the 
reader,  I  quote  him  once  more,  this  time  when  speaking  as 
a  Japanese  to  the  Japanese  : 

"It  is  deprecatory,"  said  Tokutomi,  "for  Japanese  sub- 
jects to  emigrate  to  foreign  countries  and  change  their 
nationality  by  naturalisation.  Japan  is  one  of  the  rising  nations 
of  the  world,  and  it  is  the  height  of  absurdity  that  Japan  should 
send  out  many  able  youths  as  emigrants  to  foreign  lands.  After 
all,  the  average  Japanese  transcends  every  other  people  of 
decadent  nations,   in  respect  of  ability  and  talent." 

The  first  time  I  met  Tokutomi,  Okuma  was  Premier, 
and  Tokutomi  was  a  trenchant  critic  of  Okuma,  his 
Cabinet,  his  policies,  and  anything,  apparently,  that  had 
to  do  with  Okuma.  Tokutomi  laughingly  described  him- 
self to  me  as  Okuma's  candid  friend. 

Then  came  the  day  when  Okuma's  resignation  and  re- 
tirement was  announced.  "  If  the  Okuma  Ministry  resigns," 
wrote  Tokutomi,  "it  will  only  enable  it  to  put  a  lid  on  its 
own  shame."  Further,  Tokutomi  declared  that  "the  cause 
of  the  resignation  of  the  Okuma  Ministry  lay  in  the  failure 
of  its  diplomacy  and  domestic  administration."  Tokutomi 
slated  Kato  and  put  on  him  the  responsibility  for  starting 
the  diplomatic  failures  of  the  Okuma  Ministry.  "If  a  Kato 
Ministry  be  formed,"  said  Tokutomi,  "Kato  must  be  pre- 
pared to  meet  a  formidable  opposition." 

Thirty-six  hours  after  that  article  was  on  the  streets  of 
Tokyo,  Kato  had  been  overlooked  by  the  Genro  and 
Terauchi  was  Premier.  The  next  day  the  leading  article  of 
the  Kokumin  put  Tokutomi  on  record  as  to  his  view  as  to 
the  constitutionality  of  the  action  of  the  Genro.    That  state- 


A    SUPPORTER  rOF   TERAUGHI  245 

ment  was  rendered  interesting  from  the  fact  that  its  tone 
was  subsequently  adopted  by  more  than  one  leader  of  Japa- 
nese thought.     It  read  thus  : 

"  Reg'arding  the  political  change  which  took  place  recently, 
many  conflicting  opinions  have  been  advanced.  But  the 
strongest  thing  is  that  those  who  had  held  the  opinion  that  the 
Imperial  Japanese  Constitution  is  not  a  British  Constitution, 
nor  a  German  Constitution,  but  a  constitution  of  the  Japanese 
Empire,  have  now  completely  changed  their  position,  and  are 
maintaining  that  unless  a  Ministry  in  Japan  be  formed  in  a 
British  fashion  it  is  against  the  Japanese  Constitution.  The 
Kokumin  Shimbiin  stands  for  a  definite  principle  regarding 
this  question.  We  were  unfortunate  in  not  being  able  to  agree 
with  Marquis  Okuma  in  fundamental  principles,  but  there  was 
one  common  ground  between  us  and  Marquis  Okuma — namely, 
that  the  Japanese  Constitution  should  be  interpreted  in  a 
Japanese  fashion,  not  in  a  British  fashion.  The  supporters  of 
Marquis  Okuma  disregard  the  Japanese  Constitution  and  try 
to  hold  up  the  British  practices  as  the  rules  for  our  political 
conduct,  and  say  that,  unless  it  conforms  to  these  British  rules, 
anything  done  will  be  unconstitutional.  If  they  change  their 
nationality  and  become  British  subjects  their  contention  may 
hold  good.  But  so  long  as  they  are  Japanese  subjects,  they 
should  be  blamed  as  the  enemies  of  the  Japanese  Constitution 
if  they  disregard  the  Japanese  Constitution  and  bow  before  the 
British  Constitution." 

So  Tokutomi,  stern  old  reactionary  in  many  ways, 
pleased  to  the  ground  to  see  the  Military  Party  assert  its 
power,  in  due  course  of  time  became  the  avowed  champion 
of  the  Terauchi  regime.  Not  only  did  Tokutomi  defend 
Terauchi,  but  he  championed  the  manner  of  Terauchi's 
selection  and  appointment.  In  so  doing  Tokutomi  served 
the  useful  purpose  of  mentor  to  his  colleagues  of  the  Press 
of  Japan,  who  were  for  the  most  part  howling,  some  of 
them,  perhaps,  only  murmuring,  but  almost  all  protesting 
in  some  wise,  over  the  blow  which  the  Genro  had  dealt  to 
what  they  thought  was  constitutional  government.  Toku- 
tomi chose  to  enlighten  the  nation  as  to  just  what  form  of 
government  Japan  has  to-day.  He  did  this  by  printing  a 
series  of  articles,  interesting  and  informative,  on  the  con- 
stitutional prerogatives  of  the  Japanese  Emperor. 


246  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

Tokutomi  was  undeniably  right  when  he  laid  such  stress 
on  the  fact  that  the  Japanese  Constitution  is  a  very  different 
thing  indeed  from  the  British  Constitution  or,  he  might 
have  added,  from  any  other  constitution  that  ever  pre- 
tended to  be  a  constitution  which  gave  a  people  the 
franchise  or  anything  like  it. 


CHAPTER   XLVIII 

WHY  TERAUCHl's  APPOINTMENT  WAS   CONSTITUTIONAL 

While  I  was  in  Tokyo  I  was  the  recipient  of  a  thought- 
ful gift  from  Baron  Tsudzuki  in  the  form  of  an  essay,  en- 
titled, "Some  Reminiscences  about  Our  Constitution.  By 
Order  of  Marquis  Ito."  This  essay  was  written  at  Marquis 
Ito's  dictation,  and  contained  many  statements  in  which  he 
used  the  first  personal  pronoun. 

Early  in  the  'nineties,  Marquis  Ito  came  to  London. 
Baron  Tsudzuki,  then  plain  Mr.  Tsudzuki,  was  with  him. 
I  met  Tsudzuki  at  that  time,  when  he  acted  as  secretary  to 
the  Marquis,  and  was  present  at  an  interview  I  had  with 
Ito  on  the  subject  of  the  Constitution  of  Japan. 

The  essay  above  referred  to  was  written  in  1904.  From 
it  I  gained  some  additional  side-lights  on  the  Japanese  Con- 
stitution. The  more  one  studies  the  actual  form  of  the 
government  of  Japan  the  better  one  can  gauge  just  how 
much  and  just  how  little  the  various  elements  that  go  to 
make  up  the  Island  Empire  have  to  do  with  the  policies 
of  Japan. 

I  have  shown  that  when  Count  Terauchi  was  made 
Premier,  in  absolute  defiance  of  the  recommendation  of 
Marquis  Okuma  that  Viscount  Kato,  the  leader  of  the 
majority  in  the  Diet,  should  be  his  successor,  most  of  the 
Japanese  newspapers  declared  that  the  selection  of  Terauchi 
was  unconstitutional. 

It  was  not  unconstitutional. 

Terauchi's  appointment  as  Premier  was  not  only  quite 
in  keeping  with  the  Japanese  Constitution,  but  the  real 
power  of  Japan  made  him  Premier. 

The  selection  of  a  Premier  in  Japan  may  not  in  itself  be 
a  very  vital  matter  to  the  outside  world.  But  the  fact  that 
the  real  power  in  Japan  is  an  arbitrary  power,  that  does  not 
need  to  take   into  consideration  certain   factors  of  public 


248  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

opinion  that  must  be  taken  into  consideration  in  the 
Western  world,  is  of  very  vital  interest  to  other  nations. 

No  man  who  studies  Japan  can  fail  to  take  cognisance 
of  the  increase  of  men  of  broader  views  among  the 
Japanese.  The  cause  of  government  by  the  people  for  the 
people  in  the  East  would  seem,  at  first  glance,  to  be  pro- 
ceeding apace  so  far  as  the  Japanese  are  concerned.  Such 
slaps  in  the  face  as  the  Genro  gave  to  the  spirit  of  constitu- 
tional government  in  Japan  when  Terauchi  was  made 
Premier,  however,  give  one  serious  pause.  The  Military 
Party  was,  in  1916,  the  absolute  dictator  of  Japanese 
foreign  policy.  In  this  connection,  then,  the  power  given 
it  by  the  Constitution  of  Japan  is  a  matter  of  prime 
importance. 

Marquis  Ito's  essay  on  the  adoption  of  a  constitution  by 
Japan  started  with  a  survey  of  the  conditions  in  Japan  sixty 
years  before.  The  awakening  of  Japan  to  the  fact  that 
international  intercourse  was  a  necessity  and  that  she  was 
not  prepared  for  such  intercourse,  the  realisation  that  the 
annihilation  of  the  feudal  system  and  its  autonomic  fiefs 
must  come,  and  that  the  Imperial  power  must  be  restored 
to  its  ancient  vitality,  Ito  dealt  with  in  due  course. 

Ito  gave  the  following  as  the  two  cardinal  points  that 
were  considered  by  the  Emperor  as  the  keynotes  of  his 
policy  : 

(i)  That  the  people,  a  mere  mass,  at  that  time,  of 
governed  units,  should  be  developed,  individually,  to  a 
higher  standard  of  perfection  and  of  civilisation. 

(2)  That  they  should  not  remain  a  passive  element  in 
the  State  as  before,  but  should  combine  and  actively  co- 
operate in  a  solid  and  compact  organisation  for  the  attain- 
ment of  the  common  weal. 

Ito  referred  to  the  solemn  oath  taken  by  the  Japanese 
Emperor  in  1868,  at  the  beginning  of  his  reign,  that  his 
aim  was  the  most  broad-minded  education  of  the  people, 
and  the  government  of  the  country  on  the  solid  basis  of 
national  volition  and  co-operation.  One  of  the  early 
evidences  of  this  was  the  adoption  of  compulsory  military 
service  in  1873.  "Other  important  measures,"  said  Ito, 
"of  a  similar  nature  were  adopted  step  by  step,  all  tending 
to  make  th(^  people  participators  in  the  common  work  of 
fulfilling    our    national    mission."      Along    this    line,    the 


THE    APPOINTMENT    CONSTITUTIONAL  249 

Marquis  dwelt  on  the  spirit  animating  the  Japanese  soldiers 
in  the  Russo-Japanese  war,  whicii  was  then  in  progress. 
"Even  the  simplest  soldier,"  he  said,  "has  full  conscious- 
ness, confidence  and  intense  interest  in  the  national  mission 
and  the  national  destiny.  It  is  not  the  mere  defence  of  his 
hearth  and  of  his  nearest  kin  against  hated  neighbours  or 
hostile  races  :  it  is  the  con.scientious  fulfilment  of  a  duty 
toward  the  body  politic  of  which  lie  feels  himself  to  be  an 
organic  and  living  unit." 

The  result  Ito  considered  impossible  for  attainment 
under  an  absolute  monarchy,  and  on  that  point  he  con- 
sidered the  Imperial  policy  had  shown  itself  to  be  a  brilliant 
success. 

In  March,  1882,  the  Japanese  Emperor  ordered  Marquis 
Ito  to  Avork  out  a  draft  constitution  to  be  submitted  for  his 
approval.  Ito  at  once  started  for  Europe  with  a  staff  of 
young  men  from  Japan's  best  families.  They  spent 
eighteen  months  visiting  different  constitutional  countries 
and  studying  various  forms  of  government. 

"It  was  evident  from  the  outset,"  said  Ito,  "that  no 
mere  imitation  of  foreign  models  would  suffice.  There 
were  historical  peculiarities  of  our  country  which  had  to 
be  taken  into  consideration.  For  example,  the  Crown 
was,  with  us,  an  institution  far  more  deeply  rooted  in  the 
national  sentiment  and  in  our  history  than  is  the  case  in 
other  countries.  It  was,  indeed,  the  very  essence  of  a 
once  theocratic  state,  so  that  in  forming  restrictions  of  its 
prerogatives  in  the  new  constitution,  we  had  to  take  care 
to  safeguard  the  future  reality  or  vitality  of  these  prero- 
gatives, and  not  to  let  the  institution  degenerate  into  the 
ornamental  crowning-piece  of  an  edifice.  At  the  same 
time,  it  was  also  evident  that  any  form  of  constitutional 
regime  was  impossible  without  full  and  extended  protec- 
tion of  the  honour,  the  liberty,  the  property  and  the 
personal  security  of  the  citizens,  entailing  necessarily  many 
and  important  restrictions  of  the  power  of  the  Crown." 

The  feudal  nobles,  shortly  before  real  reigning  powers 
themselves,  had  to  be  considered.  Ito  made  a  point  of 
the  fact  that  it  was  not  the  people  who  wrested  constitu- 
tional privileges  from  the  Crown,  but  the  Crown  who  gave 
the  privileges  as  a  free  gift.  The  whole  social  fabric  and 
the  family  system   in  Japan   had   to   be  considered.     One 


250  THE    FAR    EAST   UNVEILED 

group  contained  elders  who  believed  that  any  attempt  to 
restrict  the  Imperial  prerogatives  amounted  to  something 
like  high  treason,  while  another  held  juniors  who  were 
ultra-radical  in  their  conceptions  of  freedom.  Ito  had  to 
steer  a  middle  course. 

While  the  Privy  Council  (the  Genro),  under  the 
presidency  of  the  Emperor  himself,  deliberated  on  Ito's 
first  draft  of  the  constitution,  "in  spite  of  the  existence 
of  a  strong  undercurrent  of  an  ultra-conservative  nature 
in  the  council  and  also  in  the  country  at  large,"  said  Ito, 
"His  Majesty's  decisions  inclined  almost  invariably  toward 
liberal  and  progressive  ideas." 

Again  before  the  close  of  his  essay  Ito  laid  stress  on 
what  he  considered  the  evidence  of  the  success,  after  sixteen 
years  of  working,  of  the  constitution  he  had  drafted.  The 
popular  sentiment  in  favour  of  the  prosecution  of  the 
Russo-Japanese  War — as  he  put  it,  "the  strong  and  in- 
tensely united  public  opinion  that  supports  the  executive 
department  " — was  so  much  in  Ito's  eyes  that  it  dwarfed 
all  else.  He  closed  his  essay  thus:  "I  have  merely  tried 
to  touch  upon  certain  reminiscences  of  the  past  which  may 
tend  to  illustrate  what  was  our  object  in  adopting  a  con- 
stitutional form  of  government." 

After  reading  the  essay  carefully,  the  impression  left 
was  that  the  constitution  was  given  to  the  Japanese  that 
they  might  act  together  offensively  as  well  as  defensively, 
rather  than  that  they  might  participate  in  the  government 
of  their  land. 

The  following  is  from  the  preamble  of  Japan's  Con- 
stitution : — "When  in  the  future  it  may  become  necessary 
to  amend  any  of  the  provisions  of  the  present  constitution, 
WE  or  OUR  successors  shall  assume  the  initiative  right, 
and  submit  a  project  for  the  same  to  the  Imperial  Diet. 
The  Imperial  Diet  shall  pass  its  vote  upon  it,  according 
to  the  conditions  imposed  by  the  present  constitution,  and 
in  no  other  wise  shall  OUR  descendants  or  OUR  subjects 
be  permitted  to  attempt  any  alteration  thereof." 

That  leaves  no  doubt  as  to  where  the  sovereignty  rests 
in  Japan.  Ito  saw  to  that  when  he  framed  the  constitu- 
tion. The  people  of  Japan  had  no  more  to  do  with  the 
sovereignty  of  the  State  after  they  had  been  granted  a 
constitution   than  before.     Ito  not  only  saw  to  that,   but 


THE    APPOINTMENT    CONSTITUTIONAL  251 

he  elaborated  on  it  in  his  "Commentaries  on  the  Constitu- 
tion of  Japan,"  pubhshed  at  the  time  the  constitution  was 
pubhshed. 

The  Japan  Advertiser  printed  some  of  the  Articles  of 
the  Constitution  in  October  1916,  with  Marquis  Ito's 
notes  in  explanation.  The  notes  gave  more  than  ample 
excuse  for  the  following  comment : 

"  Most  of  the  Japanese  newspapers  are  attacking^  the  recent 
action  of  the  Genro  (in  appointing  Terauchi  Premier  instead  of 
Kato)  as  unconstitutional.  The  word  constitutional  has  for 
years  been  constantly  misused  by  the  Japanese  Press.  The 
action  of  the  Genro  was  constitutional,  yet,  strange  to  say,  the 
Genro  do  not  derive  their  power  through  the  Constitution,  nor 
does  such  a  body  as  the  Genro  exist  constitutionally.  They 
were  the  consequential  development  of  a  constitution  which 
created  an  absolute  monarchy  with  all  the  exterior  forms  of  a 
representative  government.  The  Press  and  the  politicians  in 
Japan  either  do  not  realise,  or  do  not  wish  to  realise,  that  it  is 
the  Constitution  itself  that  stands  in  the  way  of  what  they 
misname  constitutional  progress.  The  Constitution  is  never 
attacked,  or  a  change  is  never  even  suggested.  There  has 
been  nothing  unconstitutional  in  the  manner  of  appointment  of 
Count  Terauchi  as  Premier,  though  it  is  against  the  spirit  of 
constitutional  government  as  understood  in  Western  countries. 
It  was  a  reactionary  movement  in  the  development  of  repre- 
sentative government  in  Japan.  Any  progress  toward  true 
representative  government  must  necessarily  be  in  violation  of 
the  Constitution  of  Japan  unless  it  is  the  idea  of  the  politicians 
and  statesmen  of  Japan  to  develop  their  representative  progress 
and  rights  through  the  establishment  of  precedent.  With  a 
definite  written  constitution  that  provides  for  almost  every 
conceivable  emergency,  the  path  of  progress  of  such  develop- 
ment must  necessarily  be  a  difficult  one." 


CHAPTER    XLIX 

ON  THE  JAPANESE  CONSTITUTION 

Article  i  of  the  Japanese  Constitution  provides  that 
"The  Empire  of  Japan  shall  be  reigned  over  and  governed 
by  a  line  of  Emperors  unbroken  for  ages  eternal." 

"By  reigned  over  and  governed,"  wrote  Marquis  Ito 
in  his  "Commentaries  on  the  Constitution  of  Japan,"  "it 
is  meant  that  the  Emperor  on  His  Throne  combines  in 
Himself  the  Sovereignty  of  the  State  and  the  government 
of  the  country  and  of  His  subjects." 

Article  3  of  the  Constitution  states  that  "the  Emperor 
is  sacred  and  inviolate."  Marquis  Ito's  comment  in  ex- 
planation of  this  is  peculiarly  Japanese.  He  says,  "The 
Sacred  Throne  was  established  at  the  time  when  the 
heavens  and  the  earth  became  separated.  The  Emperor  is 
Heaven-descended,  divine  and  sacred ;  He  is  pre-eminent 
above  all  His  subjects.  He  must  be  reverenced  and  is 
inviolable.  He  has,  indeed,  to  pay  due  respect  to  the 
law,  but  the  law  has  no  power  to  hold  Him  accountable 
to  it.  Not  only  shall  there  be  no  irreverence  for  the 
Emperor's  person,  but  also  shall  He  neither  be  made  a 
topic  of  derogatory  comment  nor  one  of  discussion." 

Through  the  Constitution  of  Japan  the  Japanese 
Emperor  exercises  the  legislative  power,  the  executive 
power,  and  the  judiciary  power.  The  Emperor  convokes 
the  Imperial  Diet,  opens,  closes,  prorogues,  and  dissolves 
it.  When  the  Imperial  Diet  is  not  sitting,  Imperial 
ordinances  may  be  issued  in  place  of  laws.  The  Emperor 
has  supreme  control  of  the  Army  and  Navy,  declares  war, 
makes  peace,  and  concludes  treaties;  orders  amnesty, 
pardon  and  commutation  of  punishments. 

As  to  the  Ministers  of  State,  the  Constitution  of  Japan, 
Article  55,'  says:  "The  respective  Ministers  of  State 
shall  give  tlieir  advice  to  the  Emperor  and  be  responsible 
for  it." 

252 


ON    THE    JAPANESE    CONSTITUTION    253 

Ito's  commentary  on  this  Article  indicates  his  intention 
in  framing  it.  "When  a  Minister  of  State  errs  in  the  dis- 
charge of  his  functions,  the  power  of  deciding  upon  his 
responsibihtics  belongs  to  the  Sovereign  of  the  State  :  he 
alone  can  dismiss  a  Minister  who  has  appointed  him. 
Who  then  is  it,  except  the  Sovereign,  that  can  appoint, 
dismiss  and  punish  a  Minister  of  State?  The  appoint- 
ment and  dismissal  of  them  having  been  included  by  the 
Constitution  in  the  sovereign  power  of  the  Emperor,  it  is 
only  a  legitimate  consequence  that  the  power  of  deciding 
as  to  the  responsibility  of  Ministers  is  w'ithheld  from  the 
Diet.  But  the  Diet  may  put  questions  to  the  Ministers 
and  demand  open  answers  from  them  before  the  public, 
and  it  may  also  present  addresses  to  the  Sovereign  setting 
forth  its  opinions. 

"The  Minister  President  of  State  is  to  make  repre- 
sentations to  the  Emperor  on  matters  of  State,  and  to 
indicate,  according  to  His  pleasure,  the  general  course  of 
the  policy  of  the  State,  every  branch  of  the  administration 
being  under  control  of  the  said  Minister,  The  compass 
of  his  duties  is  large,  and  his  responsibilities  cannot  but 
be  proportionately  great.  As  to  the  other  Ministers  of 
State,  they  are  severally  held  responsible  for  the  matters 
within  their  respective  competency;  there  is  no  joint 
responsibility  among  them  in  regard  to  such  matters.  For, 
the  Minister  President  and  the  other  Ministers  of  State, 
being  alike  personally  appointed  by  the  Emperor,  the 
proceedings  of  each  one  of  them  are,  in  every  respect, 
controlled  by  the  will  of  the  Emperor,  and  the  Minister 
President  himself  has  no  power  of  control  over  the  posts 
occupied  by  other  Ministers,  while  the  latter  ought  not 
to  be  dependent  upon  the  former.  In  some  countries, 
the  Cabinet  is  regarded  as  constituting  a  corporate  body, 
and  the  Ministers  are  not  held  to  take  part  in  the  conduct 
of  the  government  each  one  in  an  individual  capacity, 
but  joint  responsibility  is  the  rule.  The  evil  of  such  a 
system  is  that  the  power  of  party  combination  will 
ultimately  overrule  the  supreme  power  of  tiie  Sovereign. 
Such  a  state  of  things  can  never  be  approved  of  according 
to  our  Constitution." 

The  man,  Japanese  or  foreigner  in  Japan,  who  speaks 
of    a    blow    being   administered    by    the    Genro    to    party 


254  THE    FAR    EAST    UNVEILED 

government,  had  best  read  over  those  two  last  sentences 
once  in  a  while. 

Less  than  five  per  cent,  of  the  population  of  Japan  have 
the  franchise,  but  even  should  the  franchise  be  extended 
to  the  remaining  ninety-five  per  cent.,  so  long  as  Japan 
rests  under  her  present  Constitution  the  Japanese  would 
be  just  as  far  from  having  what  we  of  the  Western  world 
would  term  constitutional  government. 

The  absolute  sovereignty  rests  with  the  Emperor. 

The  Emperor  of  Japan  is  advised  by  the  Genro,  a 
handful  of  aged,  reactionary  statesmen  controlled  by  the 
figure  of  Prince  Yamagata,  the  head  of  the  Military  Party 
of  Japan  and  the  father  of  the  Japanese  Army. 

The  policy  of  Japan's  military  growth  was  laid  down  by 
the  late  Emperor  Meiji.  It  is  no  more  subject  to  revision 
by  his  successor  and  his  successor's  subjects  than  is  the 
Constitution.  The  theory  has  been  expounded  by  more 
than  one  of  Japan's  public  men. 

One  has  much  to  choose  from  in  illustrating  this  point, 
for  many  articles  have  been  written  on  this  topic.  The 
building  up  of  the  Army  and  Navy  in  Japan  has  been  pro- 
ceeded with  on  a  scale  out  of  all  proportion  to  her  wealth 
or  any  possible  defence  projects.  Defence  has  been  the 
reason  given  for  the  hectic  expansion  of  Japan's  military 
and  naval  strength  by  some  Japanese,  but  not  by  all. 

Japan's  budgets  are  instructive  as  to  Army  expenditure. 
In  1893  17,000,000  yen  was  appropriated.  Ten  years 
later  this  had  risen  to  60,000,000  yen.  Another  decade 
saw  it  grown  to  116,000,000  yen. 

In  a  country  where  the  average  wage  of  the  common 
worker  is  not  more  than  a  shilling  per  day,  and  the  cost 
of  his  staple  food,  rice,  is  high,  the  national  taxes  work 
out  at  nearly  20  per  cent,  of  the  per  capita  income,  or  at 
least  did  so  prior  to  the  European  war.  Army  expenditure 
plays  a  big  part  in  this  condition  of  things,  and  Navy 
expenditure  a  bigger  one. 

When  in  Japan  I  saw  quoted  the  following  speech  of 
the  Japanese  Minister  of  Justice,  in  answering  criticism 
directed  against  the  National  Defence  Commission  :  "The 
Naval  programme  of  350,000,000  yen  (;^35,ooo,ooo),  and 
the  Army  expansion  bringing  the  strength  up  to  twenty- 
five  divisions,   are  both  unalterable,   having  received  the 


ON    THE    JAPANESE    CONSTITUTION    255 

sanction  of  the  late  Emperor.  The  National  Defence  Com- 
mission is  powerless  to  introduce  any  change  in  these 
standards." 

With  this  was  given  the  words  of  Rear-Admiral 
Suzuki,  Vice-Minister  of  the  Navy  and  a  member  of  the 
National  Defence  Commission:  "The  Commission  does 
not  propose  to  discuss  the  fundamental  plans  of  defence 
works,  as  they  were  definitely  set  and  sanctioned  by  the 
late  Emperor,  and  no  one  can  alter  them." 

The  Emperor  Meiji  had  bold  plans  for  defence.  One 
frequently  sees  reference  to  a  notable  message  he  issued  in 
a  proclamation  concerning  the  Navy  Building  Fund  in 
1893,  J^  which  he  said,  "With  regard  to  matters  of  national 
defence,  a  single  day's  neglect  may  involve  a  century's 
regrets.  We  shall  economise  the  expenses  of  the  house- 
hold, and  shall  contribute  during  the  space  of  six  years  a 
sum  of  300,000  yen  (;^30,ooo)  annually." 

Marquis  Okuma  was  supposed  to  be  the  chief  apostle 
of  peace  in  Japan.  He  was,  according  to  some  of  his 
American  admirers,  always  to  be  found  with  a  nice  white 
dove  resting  tranquilly  on  his  shoulders.  He  was 
President  of  the  Japan  Peace  Society.  He  was,  however, 
a  strong  advocate  of  arming  well  while  he  talked  to  the 
pacifists  about  the  millennium.  One  of  Okuma's  speeches 
contained  this:  "Armament,  that  most  vital  question  of 
a  nation,  cannot  be  neglected  even  for  a  day,  for  the  sake 
of  diplomacy." 

I  will  overlook  the  hundred  and  one  statements  that 
continually  appear  in  print  in  Japan  which  might  make 
one  think  that  Japan's  military  policy  is  not  altogether 
defensive.     We  all  have  jingoes. 

But  the  real  power  in  Japan  lies  with  the  Military  Party, 
nevertheless,  and  if  one  of  the  Military  Party  in  Japan  is 
asked,  he  is  more  than  likely  to  admit  that  his  taste  in  birds 
runs  to  eagles,  not  to  doves. 

It  would  be  well,  for  Japan's  sake,  if  the  more  broad- 
minded  element  in  the  country  had  more  to  say  about  the 
conduct  of  Imperial  Japanese  affairs. 

Fortunately,  that  element  is  gaining  ground,  slowly 
but  surely. 


CHAPTER    L 

FIRST    DAYS    OF   TERAUCHl's    PREMIERSHIP 

Count  Terauchi,  after  his  appointment  as  Premier,  lost 
but  little  time  in  making  public  utterance  as  to  his  pro- 
spective policies. 

Terauchi  was  reputed  to  be  a  man  who  held  the  Press 
in  but  little  esteem.  Again  and  again  he  was  accused  of 
throttling  the  Press  of  Korea.  More  than  one  editor 
made  forecast  that  Terauchi 's  premiership  would  mean 
less  freedom  of  the  Press  in  Japan  itself. 

On  the  day  following  his  official  inauguration,  how- 
ever, he  gave  a  Press  luncheon  at  his  official  residence  and 
took  the  occasion  to  read  a  carefully  prepared  speech  to 
the  journalists. 

A  fortnight  after  this,  the  new  Premier  delivered  a 
lengthy  address  to  a  conference  of  the  prefectural  gov- 
ernors of  all  Japan.  This,  too,  was  read  from  carefully 
written  manuscript. 

The  prophets  had  generally  concurred  in  the  opinion 
that  the  Terauchi  Ministry  might  more  than  likely  prove 
to  be  a  militaristic  ministry  aiming  at  conquest;  that  it 
would  discriminate  in  favour  of  Russian-Japanese  co- 
operation as  against  the  Anglo-Japanese  Alliance;  and 
that  Terauchi  himself,  being  a  bureaucrat  and  a  soldier, 
would  be  sure  to  follow  the  diplomatic  policies  held  by 
the  Military  Party  in  Japan. 

On  the  occasion  of  the  luncheon  that  the  Premier  gave 
to  the  Press  representatives  his  statements  were  of  a  very 
general  character.  Emphasising  the  fact  that  it  was  no 
time  for  idleness  and  comfort,  and  declaring  that  he  had 
accepted  the  premiership  with  great  diffidence,  Terauchi 
continued:  "The  Empire  now  faces  a  situation  demand- 
ing strenuous  and  serious  exertion  of  all  its  people.  At 
home   we   have   to   effect   reforms   in   all    departments   of 

256 


TERAUGHI'S    PREMIERSHIP  257 

national  life  and  nourish  the  resources  and  strength  of  the 
country. 

"Abroad  we  should  make  it  our  supreme  object  to 
maintain  our  faith  with  Foreign  Powers  and  be  strictly 
fair  and  upright  in  all  our  dealings  with  them.  The 
nation  must  face  all  its  troubles  and  difficulties  in  union 
and  harmony,  with  a  view,  on  the  one  hand,  to  place  the 
fortunes  of  the  Empire  on  a  foundation  solid  and  un- 
shakable, and,  on  the  other,  to  secure  the  peace  of  the 
Far  East  for  all  time." 

Terauchi  spoke  of  his  own  unworthiness,  a  custom- 
ary Oriental  observation,  and  gave  his  solicitude  for 
"the  future  destiny  of  the  Empire  "  as  his  reason  for 
dedicating  himself  to  the  Emperor's  service  "in  obedi- 
ence to  the  clear  and  straight  path  indicated  by  the 
Constitution." 

All  that  was  orthodox  and  commonplace  enough.  One 
journalist  who  was  present  told  me  that  he  could  gather 
little  from  Terauchi's  words,  but  much  from  his  manner. 
The  new  Premier  was  direct  and  forceful  in  his  way  of 
speaking,  and  a  firm  hand  on  the  reins  of  government 
seemed  promised  by  his  evident  force  of  individual 
character. 

The  Opposition  Press  in  Japan  cried  loudly  that 
Terauchi  had  said  nothing  as  to  the  policy  or  the  platform 
of  the  new  Ministry.  Some  papers  declared  Terauchi  had 
neither  policy  nor  platform  beyond  a  determination  to  rule 
as  the  Military  Party  saw  fit  by  means  of  military  power 
pure  and  simple.  The  Kokumin,  supporting  Terauchi, 
sagely  suggested  that  the  new  Ministry  should  at  once 
turn  its  attention  to  solving  such  financial  problems  as 
the  restoration  of  the  annual  sinking  fund  of  50,000,000 
yen  (;^5,ooo,ooo),  toward  paying  ofif  the  huge  national 
debt  of  Japan  ;  the  restoration  of  a  special  accounts  bureau  ; 
and  the  changing  of  the  Government  railways  to  a 
universal  broad  gauge. 

The  Japan  Advertiser  found  a  somewhat  sinister  under- 
current in  the  speech.  "To  secure  the  peace  of  the  Far 
East  for  all  time  to  come,"  undoubtedly  expressed  the 
determination  of  the  Terauchi  Government  to  secure  in 
the  near  future  a  definite  settlement  of  the  problems  be- 
tween Japan  and  China,  whatever  they  might  be,  either 

R 


258  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

by  force,  through  diplomacy  or  through  attempts  by  both 
means.  This  construction  was  placed  on  the  phrase 
quoted  because  of  its  similarity  to  the  oft-repeated  Jap- 
anese slogan,  "to  maintain  the  peace  of  the  Far  East," 
which  was  so  frequently  heard  when  Japan  was  striving 
strenuously  by  means  of  the  Five  Group  Demands  to 
wrest    something    of    China's    sovereignty   from    her    in 

1915- 

The  argument  of  the  Advertiser  was  worthy  of  notice. 
The  object  which  was  in  the  minds  of  the  Genro  in  forcing 
Terauchi  into  the  premiership  by  a  decidedly  retrogressive 
action  was  a  mystery.  The  Genro  faced  public  indigna- 
tion in  Japan  and  aroused  foreign  comment  to  forecast 
a  harsh  Japanese  policy  toward  China.  A  hard  fight  for 
party  government  was  expected  from  Okuma  and  his 
followers,  but  they  retired  in  silence  to  their  tents.  All 
this  pointed  to  the  fact  that  the  Terauchi  Ministry  was  an 
admittedly  and  intentionally  irregular  one,  a  special 
Ministry  created  with  a  special  and  specific  object  in  view. 
One  could  only  surmise  what  this  object  might  be. 

"  It  may  be,"  said  the  particularly  well-informed 
journalist,  whose  opinions  were  set  forth  at  the  greatest 
length  on  this  point,  "that  after  two  years  of  futile 
attempts  through  diplomacy  to  force  what  the  Premier 
likes  to  call  the  settlement  of  the  peace  of  the  Far  East 
for  all  time  to  come,  the  solution  may  now  be  sought 
in  a  more  strenuous  manner.  If  this  should  be  the  case, 
it  may  also  be  that  Japan  feels  that  the  war  is  drawing  to 
a  close  and  that  further  delay  may  be  costly  since  present 
opportunities  may  not  offer  themselves  in  the  near  future. 
It  may  also  be  that  there  was  an  understanding  between 
the  past  cabinet  and  the  Genro  that  party  politics  will 
be  permitted  to  resume  their  normal  activities  when  the 
special  purpose  of  this  cabinet  is  fulfilled. 

"Surely  the  selection  of  Count  Terauchi  by  the  Genro, 
the  method  of  his  appointment,  the  determination  to  seat 
him  in  the  face  of  all  opposition,  the  peculiar  make-up  of 
the  present  cabinet,  the  unusual  silence  of  Marquis  Okuma 
and  the  other  members  of  the  retiring  cabinet,  the  utter- 
ances of  the  Premier,  Count  Terauchi  himself,  and  the 
singleness  of  purpose  as  outlined  by  him,  are  all  indica- 
tions that  the  present  cabinet  is  not  a  regular  one  in  the 


TERAUGHI'S    PREMIERSHIP  259 

political  development  of  Japan.  Whether  or  not  these 
indications  are  such  as  to  lead  to  false  surmises  on  our 
part,  the  not  distant  future  will  reveal." 

It  is  fair  to  say  of  that  writer's  opinions  that  they  were 
held  by  most  foreign  observers  in  the  Far  East  at  the  time 
Terauchi  was  made  Premier  of  Japan. 

He  and  his  fellows  did  not  realise  or  anticipate 
Terauchi 's  personal  strength. 


CHAPTER    LI 

TERAUCHI   ON  JAPAN'S   POLICIES 

Count  Terauchi  had  not  been  inaugurated  as  Premier 
for  more  than  two  or  three  days  before  he  gave  an  im- 
portant interview,  for  American  consumption,  to  Mr.  J. 
E.  Sharkey,  the  Tokyo  correspondent  of  the  American 
Associated  Press. 

Terauchi's  interview  for  publication  in  America  placed 
him  on  record  definitely  on  many  important  points.  Some 
of  the  statements  contained  in  it  Count  Terauchi  sub- 
sequently repeated  to  me  personally.  Moreover,  the 
Premier  saw  the  Sharkey  interview,  and  passed  it  as  cor- 
rect, which  obviated  the  possibility  of  misunderstanding 
or  mistake. 

The  following  was  the  approved  version,  in  English, 
of  what  Count  Terauchi  wished  the  American  people  to 
think  of  his  plans  and  his  ideals  : 

"If  anyone  believes  that  I,  as  Premier  of  Japan,  intend 
to  give  this  Empire  a  militaristic  administration,  it  is  be- 
cause he  does  not  understand  my  past  career  or  the  spirit 
of  the  Japanese  nation.  Please  tell  the  people  of  the 
United  States  that  it  is  my  sincere  desire  to  promote  the 
friendship  which  has  bound  Japan  to  the  United  States 
for  the  last  half  century.  I  have  assumed  the  Premiership 
of  Japan  as  a  statesman  who  intends  to  do  his  best  to 
insure  the  permanent  prosperity  of  the  nation,  and  not  as 
a  soldier  who  will  attempt  to  gain  honour  by  the  power 
of  the  sword. 

"I  shall  take  no  new  method  for  dealing  with  the  issues 
that  lie  between  the  United  States  and  Japan.  I  expect 
to  follow  the  line  which  the  last  cabinet  adopted  in  its 
dealings  with  the  United  States. 

"In  China  what  Japan  desires  is  that  her  neighbour, 
like  herself,  shall  gain  the  full  fruits  of  Western  civilisa- 
tion and  shall  be  brought  to  such  a  position  that  she  will 

260 


TERAUGHI    ON   JAPAN'S   POLICIES       261 

be  able  to  keep  abreast  of  the  world's  progress.  Beside 
this  Japan  desires  nothing  in  China.  The  Japanese  and 
the  Chinese  spring  from  common  racial  origins,  and  their 
future  destinies  will  be  closely  related. 

"Since  Japan  intends  to  respect  China's  territorial  in- 
tegrity and  adhere  to  the  policy  of  the  Open  Door, 
American  interests  in  China  will  not  be  hurt.  Although 
Japan  has  special  obligations  toward  England  and  Russia 
under  diplomatic  agreements  which  she  has  entered  into 
with  these  countries,  yet  these  obligations  will  by  no 
means  interfere  with  her  efforts  to  promote  her  friendship 
with  other  countries,  especially  the  United  States.  On 
the  contrary  she  greatly  needs  the  friendship  and  co- 
operation of  the  United  States. 

"The  present  is  the  time  for  Japan  to  improve  her 
national  life,  and  cultivate  the  sources  of  the  power  of  the 
country,  laying  thereby  a  firm  foundation  for  the  per- 
manent peace  of  the  Far  East,  and  strengthening  the 
foundations  of  her  own  greatness.  What  is  most  neces- 
sary for  Japan  at  this  juncture  is  to  deal  with  her  foreign 
affairs  in  a  just  and  upright  manner,  and  ensure  the 
respect  of  foreign  countries  by  her  dealings  with  them." 

America  received  Terauchi's  statements  of  his  intended 
policy  favourably,  on  the  whole. 

The  New  York  Times  is  one  of  the  soundest  mediums 
of  the  most  advanced  and  best  thought  in  the  United 
States.  Its  leading  article,  commenting  on  the  Associated 
Press  interview  with  Terauchi,  contained  some  pungent 
sentences.  They  mirrored  the  opinions  of  the  Americans 
who  were  best  informed  on  matters  relating  to  the  Far 
East.  The  following  is  taken  from  this  American  view- 
point : 

Count  Terauchi  thought  it  advisable  to  disclaim  any 
warlike  purpose  for  the  new  Ministry  of  which  he  was  the 
head.  Possibly  his  selection  as  Premier  was  intended  to 
convince  the  Chinese  Government  of  the  "firmness"  of 
Japan  in  its  treatment  of  and  demands  upon  China.  To 
the  rest  of  the  world  the  change  of  Ministry  was  to  signify 
nothing.  Since  Okuma's  resignation  was  long  expected 
and  had  been  offered  more  than  a  year  before,  since  Japan 
under  its  form  of  Constitution  was  steadily  controlled  by 
a  small  group  of  men,  since  ministerial  responsibility  to 


262  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

Parliament  did  not  exist  for  her,  the  rise  and  fall  of 
ministries  were  rather  a  perplexity  to  foreigners,  a  game 
of  the  Elder  Statesmen,  than  the  indication  of  policies. 

If  Count  Terauchi  had  passed  his  life  in  foreign  em- 
bassies instead  of  having  been  Director  of  the  Military 
Academy,  Minister  of  War,  Field-Marshal,  and  so  on,  his 
policy  could  be  anticipated  as  neither  more  nor  less  war- 
like on  that  account.  It  would  be  a  Japanese  policy 
directed  by  some  of  the  ablest  and  shrewdest  statesmen  in 
the  world  solely  to  the  believed  advantage  of  Japan. 
There  is  no  more  patriotic  and  loyal  people  than  the 
Japanese.  The  currents  of  popular  opinion  were  turned, 
the  strings  of  national  and  international  interests  were 
pulled  by  wise  old  hands. 

Count  Terauchi  denied  that  he  would  take  up  with  the 
United  States  the  question  of  immigration  or  discrimina- 
tory State  legislation.  He  disclaimed  sympathy  with  Baron 
Sakatani's  recent  interview.  As  to  the  Open  Door,  "people 
talk  of  closing"  it,  but  "that  is  a  complete  7i07i  possumus." 
That  was  perhaps  too  modest  a  phrase.  The  closing  or 
opening  might  be  a  matter  of  "we  wish"  rather  than  of 
"we  can't,"  but  after  so  many  treaties  and  reassurances 
it  would  be  churlish  to  worry  about  the  Open  Door,  especi- 
ally since  the  United  States  showed  no  excessive  zeal  to 
push  her  goods  through  it.  Japan's  engagements  and 
interests  bound  her  to  the  policy  of  the  Open  Door. 
America  was  a  good  customer.  The  geographic  and 
economic  advantages  which  Japan  possessed  with  regard 
to  the  Chinese  markets  might  well  suffice  along  that  line. 

"So  long  as  Japan's  vital  interests  and  dignity  are  not 
infringed,"  said  Count  Terauchi,  "Japan  will  take  no 
aggressive  step  against  any  nation,  especially  America." 
Industrious  weavers  of  lies  and  legends,  commented  the 
Times,  were  always  trying  to  make  trouble  between  the 
United  States  and  Japan.  There  was  no  apparent  reason 
for  controversy  between  the  two  nations,  except  as  to  the 
somewhat  sensitive  Japanese  dignity.  Count  Terauchi 
disavowed  any  intention  of  re-opening  the  matters  as  to 
which  the  chauvinists  of  Nippon  had  held  that  dignity 
infringed.  The  disposition  of  the  German  possessions 
which  have  come  into  Japanese  hands  in  the  war  waits 
upon  peace. 


TERAUCHI    ON    JAPAN'S    POLICIES      263 

The  Premier's  language  aboul  China  was  indefinite, 
perhaps  a  trifle  patronising.  He  had  not  had  time  to 
discuss  China  with  his  associates,  the  Ministry  being  but 
a  day  old  at  the  time  of  the  interview.  He  said,  "How- 
ever, speaking  generally,  Japan's  ambition  is  to  have 
China  benefit,  like  Japan,  from  the  fruits  of  the  world 
civilisation  and  world  progress.  The  Japanese  and 
Chinese  people  have  sprung  from  the  same  stock.  Our 
future  destiny  is  a  common  destiny  that  is  historically 
involved." 

Cynics  in  Peking  would  perhaps  recall  ill-naturedly 
that  the  Japanese  and  the  Koreans  sprang  from  the  same 
stock,  and  that  since  igio  they  have  had  a  common 
destiny. 

The  Times  comment  on  Terauchi's  message  to  the 
U.S.A.  closed  on  that  somewhat  sarcastic  note. 


CHAPTER    LII 

TERAUCHI   TO   HIS    FELLOW-COUNTRYMEN 

Count  Terauchi's  first  official  address,  as  Premier  of 
Japan,  to  any  Japanese  public  body,  was  delivered  before 
a  conference  of  prefectural  governors  in  Tokyo  toward  the 
end  of  October,  19 16. 

It  was  a  long  address  and  dealt  with  all  manner  of 
detail.  Beginning  with  a  statement  of  regret  that  the  great 
war  was  not  yet  concluded,  Count  Terauchi  declared  his 
intention  of  giving  the  fullest  co-operation  possible  to  the 
Allies. 

"It  gives  me  genuine  satisfaction,"  he  said,  "to  observe 
that  our  alliance  with  Great  Britain,  which  forms  the  basis 
of  our  foreign  policy,  is  giving  practical  demonstration  of 
its  great  use  and  effectiveness,  especially  in  conjunction 
with  our  convention  with  Russia  and  France.  Our  rela- 
tions with  the  other  friendly  Powers  are  also  growing 
more  and  more  intimate.  These  are  matters  for  sincere 
congratulations." 

All  this  was  met  by  scornful  scoffing  by  the  anti- 
Terauchi  element,  who  declared  it  meant  nothing.  I 
pointed  out  to  some  of  my  friends  in  the  Japanese  Opposi- 
tion that  at  the  least  it  was  far  from  being  reactionary  in 
sentiment.  A  Press  critic  in  Tokyo  made  much  of  the 
apparent  relegation  to  second  place  of  the  Russo-Japanese 
agreement  by  Terauchi 's  declaration  that  the  Anglo- 
Japanese  Alliance  still  formed  the  basis  of  Japan's  foreign 
policy.  This  was  far  from  being  in  accordance  with  what 
had  been  expected  from  the  new  Premier.  The  importance 
attached  by  Terauchi  to  the  Anglo-Japanese  Alliance  was 
of  very  great  significance. 

"I  shall  always  make  it  my  aim  to  uphold  justice,"  said 
Terauchi  to  the  governors  of  the  prefectures,  "and  use 
particular  circumspection   in  the  foreign   relations  of  the 

264 


TERAUCHl   TO    HIS    COUNTRYMEN     265 

country,  so  that  our  faith  with  other  nations  may  be  kept 
above  reproach." 

Fine  words,  these,  and  noble  sentiments.  No  one  can 
deny  that  if  Japan  had  found  a  Premier  and  a  Ministry  that 
would  keep  such  ideals  ever  in  front  of  it,  that  fact  augured 
well  for  the  peace  of  the  Pacific.  Of  no  less  importance 
than  the  words  themselves  and  the  high  ideals  they  voiced 
was  the  fact  that  they  immediately  preceded  the  following 
sentence,  which  was,  be  it  noted,  equally  part  and  parcel 
of  Terauchi's  pronouncement  as  to  foreign  policy  with  the 
introductory  generalities  quoted  : 

"Particularly  is  it  my  wish  to  realise  our  friendly  senti- 
ments toward  our  neighbour  China  and  place  the  peace  of 
the  whole  Far  East  on  a  secure  footing." 

I  did  not  like  that  last  phrase,  but  my  dislike  of  it  was 
born  of  pure  personal  prejudice.  The  security  of  the  peace 
of  the  whole  Far  East  might  be  reached  by  so  many 
devious  paths,  and  the  expression  had  been  so  abused,  I 
shied  at  it  a  bit.  Many  others  in  the  Orient  felt  as  I  did 
about  it.  But  that  was  unfair  to  Terauchi.  A  Tokyo 
paper  said  that  Terauchi  on  China  was  vague,  but  friendly. 
The  implication  that  the  peace  of  the  Far  East  required 
that  something  must  be  done  to  secure  it  had  grown  to 
cause  folk  to  read  such  phrases  with  apprehension  rather 
than  confidence,  but  Terauchi's  reference  to  friendly  senti- 
ments could  hardly  be. read  by  any  unbiased  person  as  the 
prelude  of  aggressive  designs. 

The  vernacular  Press  in  Japan  was  less  charitable  to 
Terauchi.  He  was  idealistic,  complained  the  Tokyo  Asahi, 
but  did  not  state  how  his  ideals  could  be  realised.  He  said 
Japan  should  be  friendly  to  China,  but  did  not  tell  how  that 
ideal  could  be  accomplished.  If  Japan  were  to  remain  idle 
in  China,  possibly  Japan  could  remain  on  good  terms 
with  China.  The  all-important  question  was  not  that 
friendship  should  be  promoted  between  Japan  and  China, 
but  how  ? 

The  Sekai,  Terauchi's  strongest  supporter,  was  ill- 
pleased.  It  wanted,  too,  something  more  definite.  The 
nation,  it  averred,  would  not  be  satisfied  with  such  a  vague 
statement  of  ideals.  Okuma  dwelt  continually  on  high 
ideals  and  achieved  nothing  definite. 

Terauchi  was  a  bit  above  the  heads  of  the  Japanese 


266  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

Press.  His  ideals  were  very  high,  much  too  high  for  the 
full  appreciation  of  the  average  Japanese. 

Count  Terauchi  lectured  the  prefectural  governors  in 
extenso  on  the  administration  of  their  local  affairs.  In- 
cidentall}',  he  mentioned  the  different  political  parties.  Of 
them  he  said,  "I  shall  try  to  the  best  of  my  ability  to  keep 
an  attitude  of  open-minded  impartiality  toward  them  and 
their  conflicting  views  and  in  general  to  so  conduct  myself 
toward  them  as  to  give  reasonable  cause  for  satisfaction  to 
His  Imperial  Majesty  on  the  one  hand  and  to  His 
Majesty's  loyal  subjects  on  the  other."  The  difference  be- 
tween real  and  imaginary  representative  government,  said 
Hugh  Byas,  when  he  read  that  part  of  Terauchi's  speech, 
had  never  been  put  more  tersely.  There  in  a  nutshell  was 
the  difiference  between  the  constitutionalism  of  Japan  and 
the  constitutionalism  of  countries  like  England  and 
America.  Control  of  policy  was  the  function  of  the 
Emperor  and  his  Government,  which  was  above  all  parties 
and  acknowledged  no  responsibility  to  them  or  to  those 
who  elected  them. 

Terauchi  talked  long  to  the  governors,  dwelling  on 
diplomacy,  defence,  finance  and  other  important  matters. 
Such  details  of  local  government  and  administration  as  the 
postal  savings  system  and  the  sanitary  system,  the  protec- 
tion of  ex-convicts,  and  assistance  for  Japan's  newly  born 
electro-chemical  industries  were  also  discussed  in  his 
address.  It  was  catholic.  But  it  did  not  please  the  Tokyo 
Press,  because  not  a  word  did  Terauchi  say  of  the  restora- 
tion of  the  sinking  fund,  the  broad  gauge  question,  the 
to-be-proposed  sources  of  the  naval  expansion  fund  or  the 
method  of  accounting  for  the  sale  of  arms  to  Russia. 

No  paper  took  Terauchi's  lofty  ideals  into  much 
account.  A  Tokyo  paper  even  went  so  far  as  to  draw  a 
picture  from  his  speech  of  a  very  narrow-minded  Terauchi. 

Into  the  speech  was  read  quite  clearly  what  the  writer 
called  the  lofty  if  narrow  conservatism  of  the  Premier's 
mind;  his  affection  for  traditional  and  characteristic  virtues 
of  Japan,  loyalty,  discipline,  simplicity  of  life;  his  distrust 
and  dislike  of  the  more  blatant  accompaniments  of  the  new 
era  of  wealth  and  material  progress;  and  finally  that  pas- 
sion for  efficient  administration  which,  with  a  man  of  his 
type,  usually  means  a  benevolent  despotism.     The  writer 


TERAUGHI  TO    HIS  COUNTRYMEN       267 

saw  in  the  speech  abundant  evidence  of  lofty  character  and 
high  ideals,  but  searched,  he  said,  in  vain  for  indications 
of  that  flexibility  of  mind  which  can  preserve  the  old  intel- 
ligence without  thwarting  and  antagonising  the  new  im- 
pulses. In  that  writer's  opinion,  no  quality  was  so  neces- 
sary to  a  political  statesman  in  Japan  at  that  stage  of  the 
political  and  social  evolution  of  a  quick  and  impulsive 
people  like  the  Japanese. 

Terauchi  was  called  by  him  a  Premier  with  a  backward 
look,  because  he  extolled  teaching  loyalty  to  the  throne, 
filial  devotion  and  the  inculcation  of  virtue,  and  deplored 
the  invasion  of  the  simple  countryside  with  its  industry  and 
frugality  by  new  forces  tending  to  lead  the  common  folk 
in  another  direction.  A  rough  passage  for  Terauchi  as 
Premier  was  prophesied. 

Another  prominent  writer  in  Japan  was  caustic  regard- 
ing that  speech  of  Terauchi's,  remarking,  among  other 
things,  that  the  mentioning  of  so  many  varied  topics  in 
one  address  showed  that  the  new  Premier  would  have  a 
finger  in  every  pie,  that  being  his  predominating 
characteristic. 


CHAPTER    LIII 

A   TALK   WITH    COUNT   TERAUCHI 

I  FOUND  Count  Terauchi  particularly  easy  of  approach. 
I  should  think  comparatively  little  red  tape  is  wrapped 
around  his  official  goings  and  comings. 

I  was  not  aware,  until  reminded  by  Count  Terauchi, 
that  I  had  met  him  previously.  He  arrived  at  Tientsin, 
in  the  Boxer  troubles  in  China  in  1900,  three  days  before 
the  storming  of  the  native  city  of  Tientsin.  I  was  with 
the  Japanese  troops  on  that  occasion,  and  later  during  the 
same  campaign  was  for  some  days  with  General 
Yamaguchi's  forces. 

Terauchi  came  into  the  room  quickly,  spiritedly,  with 
a  frank,  direct  smile  on  his  face.  He  looked  squarely  in 
my  eyes  with  a  very  likable  expression.  He  extended  his 
left  hand.  His  right  arm  has  been  useless  these  many 
years.  It  was  shattered  by  a  bullet  in  the  Saigo  Rebellion 
in  1877,  ^^^  he  has  never  since  been  able  to  bend  the 
elbow.  The  fact  that  he  received  this  wound  nearly  forty 
years  ago  reminded  one  of  Terauchi's  age.  He  was  sixty- 
four  years  old,  but  looked  much  younger.  Most  of  the 
photographs  that  appeared  in  the  newspapers  and  periodi- 
cals on  the  occasion  of  his  accession  to  the  premiership 
showed  him  with  a  beard.  When  I  met  him  in  Tokyo  he 
had  shaved  this  down  to  the  narrow  limits  of  a  short,  inch- 
wide  imperial,  which  gave  him  a  decidedly  youthful 
appearance  for  a  man  of  his  years. 

The  loss  of  the  use  of  his  right  arm  may  have  been 
the  reason  why  Terauchi  has  never,  since  receiving  his 
wound,  taken  an  active  part  in  the  fighting  line.  His  work 
with  the  army  has  been  along  many  channels,  but  chiefly 
in  the  way  of  transportation  and  educational  work.  A  few 
years  after  the  Saigo  Rebellion  Terauchi  was  attached  to 
the  Japanese  Legation  in  Paris,  where  he  obtained  a  very 
fair  command  of  the  French  language.     Next  he  was  an 

268 


A   TALK    WITH    COUNT   TERAUCHI      269 

instructor  in  a  Government  Military  School  in  Japan,  then 
a  transport  officer,  rising  to  the  head  of  the  transport 
branch  of  the  land  service  in  1894  ^"^  showing  no  little 
ability  in  that  position  during-  the  Chino-Japanese  War. 
When,  a  few  years  later,  a  Board  of  Military  Education 
was  formed  in  Japan,  Terauchi  was  placed  at  the  head  of 
it.  From  that  billet  he  rose  to  the  General  Staff  and 
thence  to  Minister  for  War.  The  Russo-Japanese  War 
found  him  in  possession  of  that  portfolio,  which  he  filled 
to  his  great  credit.  His  signal  services  were  rewarded  by 
the  Emperor  in  the  form  of  a  viscounty  and  a  promotion 
to  the  rank  of  general,  to  be  followed  later  by  a  still 
further  promotion  to  the  rank  of  field-marshal.  In  19 10 
he  went  to  Korea  as  Governor-General.  The  annexa- 
tion of  Korea  as  a  Japanese  province  was  due  to  his 
efforts. 

Direct,  forceful,  clean  cut,  a  born  leader,  that  is  the 
immediate  conclusion  to  which  I  came  on  meeting 
Terauchi. 

One  of  the  first  questions  we  discussed  was  Japan's 
future  policy  as  regards  the  present  war.  Terauchi  was 
very  definite  and  outspoken  on  this  head.  I  had  ex- 
plained that  I  was  about  to  leave  Japan  to  return  to 
England. 

"You  may  give  the  people  of  England,  if  you  will,  a 
message  from  the  Terauchi  Cabinet,"  said  the  Premier. 
**I  have  not  been  in  England  for  many  years.  I  was  last 
in  London  on  the  occasion  of  Queen  Victoria's  Jubilee. 
But  I  have  watched  the  British  people  and  the  British 
Army  during  the  present  struggle  with  the  closest  interest 
and  sympathy,  and  their  dogged  determination  and  stub- 
born spirit  of  pushing  the  war  to  a  successful  conclusion 
at  all  costs  has  won  my  complete  admiration. 

*'  It  is  a  matter  of  the  greatest  regret  to  me  that  circum- 
stances have  made  it  impossible,  or  at  least  impracticable, 
to  place  an  army  of  Japanese  soldiers  in  the  fighting  line, 
where  they  could  wage  war  against  the  common  foe, 
shoulder  to  shoulder  with  the  armies  of  France  and 
Britain.  But  though  we  cannot,  apparently,  hope  to  take 
such  part  as  that  in  the  war,  you  may  tell  the  people  of 
England  from  the  Terauchi  Cabinet  that  it  is  our  solemn 
intention  to  leave  no  stone  unturned  to  assist  our  Allies 


270  THE   FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

by  every  means  in  our  power.     All  our  resources,  such  as 
they  are  or  may  be,  are  at  the  disposal  of  the  Allies." 

Japan  had  been  most  eager  to  see  Japanese  troops  sent 
to  Europe.  It  was  not  a  Japanese  protest  that  stopped 
the  troops  from  sailing  from  Nagasaki  to  the  Western 
battlefields,  though  Count  Terauchi  did  not  touch  on  that 
point. 

Baron  Sakatani  had  come  back  from  the  Allied  con- 
vention in  Paris  full  of  the  idea  that  Japan  should  at  once 
take  active  and  thorough  steps  to  block  trading  with  the 
enemy.  Terauchi  was  a  strong  supporter  of  that  policy, 
which  was  at  once  to  be  inaugurated  in  Japan,  he  said. 

Our  conversation  drifted  to  matters  of  military  detail. 
Changes  were  planned  for  the  Japanese  Army  in  accord- 
ance with  lessons  learned  during  the  present  war.  Count 
Terauchi  said,  but  would  not  likely  be  put  into  operation, 
to  any  sweeping  extent,  until  the  end  of  the  conflict.  I 
read  into  that  an  idea  that  Count  Terauchi  thought  war- 
fare might  still  see  some  changes  in  theory  of  operation 
and  organisation  before  peace  came. 

In  discussing  foreign  affairs  the  Premier  broke  no  par- 
ticularly new  ground.  I  was  impressed  by  his  apparently 
earnest  desire  to  rule  wisely  and  to  effect  real  progress. 
His  belief  that  Japan  had  a  common  destiny  with  all 
nations  which  aimed  high,  no  matter  what  their  world 
position  geographically,  was  unusually  strong.  Never 
before  had  I  met  an  Oriental  political  leader  who  seemed" 
so  thoroughly  to  realise  that  there  is  but  one  road  to  true 
greatness,  for  either  individuals  or  nations,  and  that  is  the 
straight  and  narrow  path. 

I  left  Count  Terauchi  with  the  firm  belief  that  he  was 
the  strong  man  of  Japan.  Japan  has  had  few  men  like 
him.  The  nominee  of  Prince  Yamagata  and  his  Genro,  the 
head  of  the  reactionary  Choshu  clan,  the  figure  that  stands 
for  the  Military  Party  of  Japan,  all  this  notwithstanding, 
I  was  given  great  hopes  for  the  wise  administration  of  his 
office,  so  long  as  he  might  hold  it,  by  Count  Terauchi. 

True,  the  Military  Party  was  the  real  power  in  Japan. 
But  Terauchi  was  of  that  party  and  they  would  listen  to  his 
advice,  as  they  had  never  listened  to  a  Japanese  Premier 
before  him.  He  might  be  old-fashioned  and  even  some- 
what narrow-minded  on  administrative  matters.     Military 


A   TALK    WITH    COUNT    TERAUGHI      271 

men  are  likely  to  be  so.  But  I  believed  in  his  sound  judg- 
ment and  in  his  real  sense  of  right  and  fairness  back  of 
it  all. 

Nine  men  out  of  ten  in  Japan  predicted  a  short  life  for 
the  Terauchi  Ministry.  I  believed  Terauchi  would  survive 
the  then  existing  Diet,  as  he  did  survive  it. 

Viscount  Kato  and  Mr.  Ozaki  both  thought  that,  with 
the  backing  of  their  new  Kenseikai  Party,  they  could 
introduce  a  vote  of  lack  of  confidence  in  the  Diet  and  turn 
the  Terauchi  Ministry  out  in  January,  1917,  on  the  sole 
ground  of  its  having  been  appointed  at  the  instance  of  the 
Genro  in  contravention  of  the  spirit  of  Western  constitu- 
tional government.     Few  doubted  their  power  to  do  this. 

Unless  the  Terauchi  Ministry  took  some  overt  line 
that  would  give  the  Opposition  some  ground  upon  which 
to  attack  them,  however,  even  should  such  a  vote  of  lack  of 
confidence  go  through,  Terauchi  would  survive  a  dissolu- 
tion, said  the  wisest  ones.  True,  he  would  have  to  look  to 
the  Seiyukai  Party  for  help  at  the  polls,  and  would  have  to 
reward  members  of  that  party  after  the  victory  by  giving 
some  of  them  seats  in  his  Cabinet.  That  would  seem  to 
promise  a  house  divided  against  itself. 

On  four  points  Terauchi 's  position  as  Premier  was 
strong.  First,  nothing  could  be  reasonably  said  against 
him  personally  as  a  Premier.  Second,  he  was  the  repre- 
sentative of  the  strongest  element  in  Japanese  politics. 
Third,  the  Japanese  people  were  not  likely  to  look  kindly 
on  a  proposal  of  change  in  such  times  of  national  stress. 
Fourth,  and  by  no  means  least.  Count  Terauchi  was  the 
personal  choice  of  the  Emperor  himself  for  Premier  of 
Japan,  and  the  people  knew  it.  Many  Japanese  might 
consider  a  hasty  casting  aside  of  the  Emperor's  nominee 
an  act  of  discourtesy  to  the  Throne. 

All  this  was  proven  correct  by  the  result  of  the  19 17 
elections  in  Japan. 

A  few  years  hence  the  continental  protection  Japan  is 
affording  to  her  big  business  interests  will  place  them 
astride  the  back  of  her  national  administration.  They  are 
already  growing  sharp  teeth,  which  a  momentary  curl  of 
a  lip  shows  now  and  again.  A  strong  man,  such  as 
Terauchi,  will  then  be  needed  by  Japan  in  very  truth. 

Japan's  foreign  relations  are  important  to  every  nation, 


272  THE    FAR    EAST   UNVEILED 

and  her  foreign  policies  concerns  the  English-speaking 
world  particularly.  But  Japan  has  internal  problems  of 
almost  equal  interest  to  her. 

For  the  real  good  and  ultimate  welfare  of  Japan,  which 
means  her  advance  along  the  fair,  straightforward  road 
which  must  be  tramped  by  every  honest,  progressive, 
civilised  power,  the  appointment  of  Field-Marshal  Count 
Terauchi  as  Premier  placed  the  best  available  man  in  Japan 
at  the  head  of  Japan's  Government. 

What  he  may  be  able  to  effect  depends  not  only  upon 
himself,  but  upon  more  than  one  force  in  Japanese 
national  life.  He  is  but  one  factor,  a  predominating  one, 
but  only  one,  after  all. 

Whatever  the  future  may  hold  for  Japan,  good  or  ill, 
wisdom  or  folly,  such  influence  as  Terauchi  will  exert  on 
his  day  and  time  will  be  for  the  right  and  not  for  the 
wrong,  as  judged  from  our  own  Western  standards. 


CHAPTER    LIV 

KATO    AND   THE    OPPOSITION    PARTY 

On  October  lo,  1916,  less  than  a  week  after  the  selection 
of  Count  Terauchi  as  Premier,  a  new  political  party  was 
formally  born  in  Tokyo. 

This  party  had  been  orij^inally  planned  as  the  backbone 
of  the  support  in  the  Diet  for  Viscount  Kato,  when  it  was 
thought  he  would  succeed   Marquis  Okuma  as  Premier. 

It  was  named  the  Kenseikai,  or  Constitutional,  Party. 
It  was  composed  of  the  major  portion  of  each  of  three  of 
the  political  parties  of  Japan.  These  three  were  the  Doshi- 
kai,  whose  leader  had  for  some  time  been  Viscount  Kato; 
the  Chuseikai,  whose  leader  was  Mr.  Ozaki,  the  former 
Minister  of  Justice  in  the  Okuma  Cabinet;  and  the  Koyu 
Club,  a  half-organised  band  of  personal  friends  and 
adherents  of  Marquis  Okuma. 

The  Doshikai  had  been,  during  the  Okuma  regime,  the 
nucleus  of  the  parties  which  had  supported  the  Government 
and  given  it  a  sound  working  majority  in  the  Diet.  Next 
to  the  Genro  itself  the  Doshikai  was  the  most  powerful 
organised  political  force  in  Japan. 

The  Seiyukai,  a  sort  of  red  revolutionary  party  so  far  .is 
its  view  of  Okuma  was  concerned,  was  under  the  leadership 
of  Mr.  Hara,  whose  support  was  expected  by  Terauchi. 
The  former  power  of  the  Seiyukai,  which  fell  with  Count 
Yamamoto's  Cabinet  and  the  naval  scandal  which  proved 
its  undoing,  had  never  been  regained.  The  only  other 
political  group  in  Japan  that  was  worthy  of  mention  was 
the  Kokuminto  or  Independent  Party,  whose  leader  was 
Mr.  Inukai.  It  had,  in  itself,  insufficient  power  to  make 
it  much  of  a  factor  except  as  a  minor  ally  of  one  of  the 
stronger  groups. 

Kato's  initial  words  to  the  new  party,  the  Kenseikai,  on 
the  occasion  of  its  coming  into  existence,  were  as  follows  : 
"We  shall  all  continue  to  fight  for  the  cause  of  constitu- 
s  273 


274  THE    FAR    EAST   UNVEILED 

tionalism,  though  there  are  many  obstacles  to  constitutional 
government  in  Japan  which  are  bound  to  confront  us." 

Five  or  six  days  later  the  Kenseikai  published  its  plat- 
form, which  made  no  open  mention  of  constitutional 
reform. 

Before  this  stereotyped  statement  was  promulgated, 
however.  Viscount  Kato  had  made  a  speech  to  the  section 
of  the  new  party  which  looked  out  for  north-eastern  Japan, 
in  which  he  had  quoted  a  conversation  with  Prince  Yama- 
gata,  the  head  of  the  Genro.  He  had  not  mentioned  Prince 
Yamagata  by  name,  but  had  referred  to  him  as  "a  certain 
person  who  recommended  Count  Terauchi  for  Premier  to 
His  Majesty." 

"I  know  you  are  fit  to  become  Premier,"  Kato  said 
Prince  Yamagata  had  remarked,  "and  sooner  or  later  you 
may  occupy  that  position.  To-day,  however,  is  not  the 
time,  because  the  close  of  the  European  war  will  bring 
about  unexpected  changes  in  the  world  situation.  Issues 
that  may  involve  the  rise  or  fall  of  our  Empire  may  be  the 
outgrowth  of  that  conflict.  It  is  necessary,  therefore,  that 
for  the  present  we  have  a  Ministry  that  represents  all  the 
nation.  Your  personal  fitness  to  become  Premier  is  not 
questioned,  but  you  have  many  enemies.  Count  Terauchi, 
on  the  other  hand,  has  no  party  connections  and  therefore 
no  political  enemies.  That  is  wh}^  I  saw  to  it  that  he  was 
chosen  to  head  the  new  Ministry." 

Those  words,  remember,  came  from  the  man  that  repre- 
sented the  real  power  in  Japan — the  Military  Party. 

Commenting  on  Terauchi  and  his  platform,  Kato  went 
on  to  say  :  "Terauchi  appears  to  wish  to  mediate  between 
political  parties,  thereby  raising  himself  to  a  position 
superior  to  all  parties.  His  attitude  is  very  indefinite.  I 
am  glad  he  has  taken  the  Anglo-Japanese  Alliance  as  the 
basis  of  his  foreign  policy.  Terauchi  has  not  said  much 
about  the  alliance,  and  it  is  known  that  members  of  his 
Cabinet  are  opposed  to  it,  and  the  semi-official  Press 
organs  of  his  clique  have  opposed  it.  However,  it  having 
been  declared  by  the  Premier  that  he  stands  for  the  Anglo- 
Japanese  Alliance,  his  foreign  policy  may  have  its  good 
points." 

Viscount  Kato  on  that  occasion  defended  his  policy  in 
China.     He  was  Foreign   Minister  of  Japan  at  the  time 


I 


KATO   AND   THE   OPPOSITION    PARTY  275 

Japan  presented  the  Five  Group  Demands  to  China  in 
1915.  Kato  said  in  brief  that,  so  far  as  the  question  of 
Japanese  occupation  of  Chinese  territory  was  concerned, 
Japan  was  as  much  justified  as  were  any  of  the  Powers  in 
their  acquisitions  of  territory  in  the  last  part  of  the  last 
century.  He  boasted  of  the  extension  of  Japanese  in- 
fluence in  Shantung-  and  in  Manchuria.  It  was  a  com- 
mentary on  human  fallibility  to  hear  Kato,  the  man  whose 
enemies  in  Japan  had  scornfully  dubbed  him  "more  pro- 
British  than  the  British  themselves,"  upholding  the  Anglo- 
British  Alliance  with  one  breath  and  with  the  next  lauding 
himself  and  the  Cabinet  of  which  he  was  a  member  for 
acting  in  a  manner  in  no  wise  in  accord  with  that 
agreement. 

The  following  was  a  leader  which  appeared  in  the 
Tokyo  Asahi  the  day  following  the  formation  of  the 
Kenseikai  Party : 

"  We  cannot  but  reflect  upon  the  past  and  note  how  swiftly 
things  have  changed.  When  the  Doshikai  was  organised  five 
years  ago  Baron  Goto  and  Mr.  Nakashoji  endeavoured  to  make 
a  success  of  the  party,  but  they  later  returned  to  the  former 
policy  of  super-party  government,  and  have  exerted  their  in- 
fluence in  downing  the  Okuma  Ministry,  which  was  supported 
by  the  Doshikai  Party.  Mr.  Oishi,  who  first  left  the  Kokuminto 
with  four  other  leaders  of  the  party,  and  joined  the  Doshikai 
originated  by  Prince  Katsura,  his  political  enemy,  has  now 
come  to  show  his  inclination  to  join  the  Seiyukai,  the  arch- 
enemy of  his  own  in  the  past.  Mr.  Ozaki,  who  considered 
Prince  Katsura  as  his  arch-enemy,  has  now  become  a  corner- 
stone of  the  new  party  which  incorporated  the  Doshikai  in  it. 
The  majority  of  the  Doshikai  leaders,  who  did  not  like  Mr. 
Ozaki  at  the  time  the  Oura  scandal  arose,  have  welcomed  liim 
as  the  first  of  the  directory  of  the  new  party,  or  Its  virtual 
vice-president. 

*'  Marquis  Okuma,  who  was  once  known  as  '  Okuma  of  the 
Kokuminto,'  abandoned  that  party  some  years  ago,  and  has 
shaken  hands  with  the  clan  clique,  and  is  looked  up  to  by  them 
as  their  chief,  although  he  refused  to  become  the  president  in 
name.  Mr.  Adachi  and  others  of  the  former  Doshikai  and  of 
the  new  Kenseikai  who  had  stood  for  super-party  government, 
who  had  been  the  objects  of  attack  by  the  constitutionalists  a 
few  years  ago,  now  feel  the  need  of  starting  a  constitutional 
movement  for  their  own  purpose.     Mr.  Inukai,  who  was  known 


276  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

as  the  'god  of  constitutionalism,'  is  now  lukewarm,  thereby 
giving  an  impression  that  the  god  may  dispense  benefits  to 
suit  his  convenience.  The  Seiyukai,  which  five  years  ago  joined 
Messrs.  Inukai  and  Ozaki  in  the  movement  for  constitution- 
alism, is  now  trying  to  make  an  alliance  with  the  clan  clique. 
Such  has  been  the  history  since  the  formation  of  the  Doshikai 
five  years  ago.  Viscount  Kato  the  other  day  referred  to  the 
lack  of  confidence  of  the  people  in  the  political  parties.  That 
lack  of  confidence  is  due  to  the  lack  of  continuity  of  the 
statesmen.  We  warn  the  members  of  the  new  party  to  re- 
member these  things,  before  we  would  welcome  the  new  party. 
The  men  who  took  part  in  the  programme  of  the  ceremonies 
of  the  formation  of  the  new  party  all  dwelt  upon  the  need  of 
uniting.  Viscount  Kato  also  said  that  efforts  must  be  made  to 
remove  all  the  constitutional  obstacles.  That  is  what  we 
expect  the  new  party  to  do. 

"  But  what  resolution,  what  courage  of  conviction  have 
these  leaders  of  the  new  party?  What  sincerity  has  Viscount 
Kato,  the  president,  to  carry  out  the  idea  of  removing  the 
obstacle?  Viscount  Kato  is  reported  to  have  said  that  there 
is  no  reason  why  a  leader  of  a  party,  because  he  is  such,  must 
become  the  organiser  of  a  Ministry.  What,  then,  does  he 
mean  by  the  spirit  of  constitutional  government  to  which  he 
referred  before?  Such  indefinite  attitude  of  the  political  leaders 
explains  why  they  are  so  indifferent  to  the  appearance  of  the 
Terauchi  Ministry.  Viscount  Kato  is  also  reported  to  have 
warned  his  political  friends  not  to  be  so  reckless  as  to  start  a 
movement  against  the  formation  of  the  Terauchi  Ministry. 
Why  was  it  recklessness  to  try  to  prevent  formation  of  a 
Ministry  by  Count  Terauchi,  a  super-party  Ministry?  The 
new  party  may  some  day  surrender  to  the  Terauchi  Ministry, 
we  are  afraid." 

The  foregoing-  are  facts,  not  fancies. 
Consistency  does  not  appear  to  be  a  characteristic  of 
the  Japanese  politician. 


CHAPTER   LV 

A   NEW   ATTITUDE  TOWARD   CHINA 

If  one  could  outline  the  prospective  foreign  policy  of 
Japan,  one  would  be  a  prophet  indeed.  That  fact,  how- 
ever, does  not  preclude  the  student  of  Japanese  affairs  from 
forming  opinions  as  to  the  probable  line  Japan  must  follow. 

Viscount  Motono,  the  new  Foreign  Minister,  had  but 
recently  arrived  in  Tokyo  from  the  Japanese  Embassy  in 
Petrograd  when  1  left  Japan,  and  up  to  that  time  had  been 
silent  as  to  his  personal  views  on  Japanese  Imperial  Policy 
of  any  sort. 

I  have  quoted  Count  Terauchi's  own  statements  on 
such  subjects  and  one  or  two  commentaries  on  them. 
From  Terauchi's  expressions  of  intention,  Marc^uis  Okuma 
was  not  wrong  when  he  said,  a  week  after  Terauchi  was 
made  Premier,  "Personally,  I  think  that  Count  Terauchi 
is  a  very  gentle  man ;  a  man  whom  children  might  love. 
He  is  not  a  disciple  of  the  Kaiser,  nor  a  man  to  be  feared 
in  the  way  that  foreigners  fear  him.  There  appears  to  be 
apprehension  abroad  lest  he  stretch  out  his  strong  hand 
in  China  and  repeat  what  he  did  in  Korea.  There  is  no 
need  for  such  fear.  True,  Japan  can  take  China  if  she 
chooses.  But  why  should  she?  What  can  we  do  with 
China  if  we  take  her?  She  would  do  us  no  good.  Other 
nations  are  mistaken  in  their  belief  that  Japan  intends  to 
carve  out  her  place  in  the  world  with  the  sword.  It  is 
unfortunate  for  us  that  such  suspicions  of  our  motives  are 
harboured  in  other  countries." 

A  meeting  of  the  Terauchi  Cabinet  was  held  towards 
the  close  of  1916,  immediately  prior  to  which  the  Premier 
was  reported  to  have  been  in  conference  with  the  Japanese 
Emperor,  after  a  long  discussion  with  Prince  Yamagata, 
the  head  of  the  Genro,  and  Viscount  Motono,  Japan's 
Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs.  The  Cabinet  meet- 
ing  resulted   in   an    inspired   pronunciamento   being   sent 

277 


278  THE    FAR    EAST   UNVEILED 

forth  by  the  Nippon  Dempo  News  Agency.  All  of  the 
conferences  mentioned,  said  the  communication  circulated, 
led  to  an  adoption  by  the  Cabinet  of  a  new  Japanese 
attitude  toward  China.  This  policy,  unanimously  agreed 
upon  by  Count  Terauchi  and  his  Cabinet,  had  as  its  foun- 
dation the  resolve  that  Japan  should  not  interfere  with  the 
internal  affairs  of  China  in  any  way ;  that  Japan  would 
co-operate  with  China  for  the  preservation  of  peace  in  the 
Far  East;  that  Japan  would  attempt  to  acquire  no  more 
"rights"  in  China;  and  that  Japan  would  not  thereafter 
urge  the  Peking  Government  to  employ  Japanese  advisers 
unless  China  really  welcomed  them  for  the  development  of 
the  country. 

I  have  been  most  careful  to  copy  the  wording  of  the 
translation  of  that  announcement  and  to  verify  it. 

Such  was  the  detailed  policy  that  Terauchi  wished  the 
world  to  know  w^as  the  Terauchi  policy  toward  the 
Chinese  Republic. 

The  Tokyo  Asahi  had  but  a  day  or  so  previously  said 
that  Motono  was  "a  bureaucratic  statesman,  who  ignores 
public  opinion  altogether  and  believes  that  the  affairs  of 
the  Empire  should  be  monopolised  by  the  officials." 
"New^spapers,"  continued  the  Asahi,  "public  opinion, 
people's  diplomacy,  are  things  Motono  detests  as  if  they 
were  vipers.  In  this  respect,  he  is  of  the  same  mind  as 
Count  Terauchi." 

That  statement,  from  as  sober  and  conservative  a 
newspaper  as  all  Japan  could  boast,  showed  that  its  editor 
must  have  disbelieved  the  sincerity  of  the  statements  sent 
out  by  the  Nippon  Dempo  Agency.  The  Terauchi 
Cabinet  was  playing  either  a  very  open  or  a  very  deep 
game. 

Most  Japanese  declared  that  Terauchi  and  the  Military 
Party  which  had  placed  him  in  the  premiership  were 
scornful  of  the  electorate.  Suffrage  was  talked  but  little  in 
Japan.  The  Asahi  was  a  strong  advocate  of  the  extension 
of  sufifrage.  The  new  Kenseikai  Party  was  most  vague 
as  to  its  attitude  on  the  subject.  Mr.  Ozaki  was  the  most 
prominent  and  outspoken  champion  of  the  cause.  The 
suffrage,  he  declared,  should  be  demanded  bv  the  people 
of  Japan,  not  given  to  them  as  a  gift.  The  Okuma 
Cabinet  was  not  in  favour  of  the  proposal  of  INIr.  Mara,  of 


A  NEW  ATTITUDE  TOWARD  CHINA     279 

the  Seiyukai  Party,  to  give  the  suff ranee  to  educated  classes 
above  graduates  of  certain  schools.  Neither  did  it  lend 
any  support  to  the  suggestion  that  the  suffrage  qualifica- 
tion should  be  changed  so  that  it  embraced  those  who  pay 
five  yen  (say  ten  shillings)  a  year  taxes,  instead  of  ten  yen 
(say  twenty  shillings). 

The  Press  of  Japan  in  general  appeared  to  be  some- 
times in  favour  of  suffrage  extension,  sometimes  against 
it,  but  all  sides  agreed  that  Terauchi  would  scorn  to  con- 
sider the  voter.  Yet  early  in  his  career  as  Premier  he 
consulted  the  voters  as  to  the  new  China  policy,  as  well  as 
giving  it  to  the  outside  world. 

Why  should  he  do  that?  It  is  indeed  difficult  to 
attribute  any  except  one  of  two  reasons.  Either  Terauchi 
and  his  Ministry  meant  what  they  said  and  Chino-Jap- 
anese  diplomacy  was  well  on  the  way  to  turning  over  a 
new  leaf,  or  the  wool  was  being  pulled  over  someone's 
eyes.  It  is  more  fair  to  accept  the  former  view  until 
evidence  is  produced  showing  that  it  is  incorrect. 

Speaking  broadly,  such  a  policy  would  not  be  so  un- 
popular in  Japan  as  many  people  think.  The  jingoes 
might  howl.  But  no  one  ever  satisfies  some  sorts  of 
jingoes.  They  are  monuments  of  dissatisfaction.  No 
matter  what  policy  is  pursued,  it  is  too  mild.  The  more 
that  is  given  to  them,  the  more  they  demand. 

It  is  possible  Terauchi  felt  that  was  true  about  Japan's 
jingoes  and  resolved  to  do  what  he  thought  the  wise  and 
right  thing  regardless  of  their  opinions. 

It  would  be  the  wisest  policy  Japan  could  adopt,  and 
her  surest  path  to  her  greatest  ultimate  benefit. 

The  Tokyo  Chuwo  contained  a  leader  in  November, 
1916,  that  is  worth  reading  in  view  of  the  foregoing.  I 
had  recently  returned  from  Manchuria  when  I  first  saw 
this  leader.  I  had  seen  enough  of  Manchuria  to  have 
learned  that  in  that  country  China  has  no  real  sovereignty 
left. 

The  Chwwo  editor  produced  the  following  effusion  on 
the  subject : 

"  Viscount  Kato,  president  of  the  Kenseikai,  at  a  meeting 
of  the  Fukui  branch  of  the  Kenseikai,  said  :  '  There  are  two 
opinions  in  Japan  regarding  China ;  one  is  that  Japan  should 


28o  THE    FAR    EAST   UNVEILED 

occupy  Manchuria,  the  other  that  Japan  should  recognise  the 
sovereignty  of  China  in  Manchuria,  and  acquire  various  privi- 
leges there  securely.'  He  said  that  the  Okuma  Ministry  took 
the  latter  course  and  succeeded.  Whether  it  was  a  success  or 
failure,  we  shall  not  discuss  here.  But  we  cannot  pass  without 
comment  when  Viscount  Kato  says  there  are  two  such  opinions 
in  Japan.  We  do  not  believe  there  are  such  thoughtless  people 
in  Japan  as  to  hold  the  opinion  that  Japan  should  occupy 
Manchuria.  Even  if  there  are,  they  are  only  irresponsible  per- 
sons. Manchuria  is  Chinese  territory.  Why  should  Japan 
occupy  that  country  without  cause?  Viscount  Kato  says  that 
such  is  the  opinion  in  Japan.  Then  his  other  suggestion  is  a 
direct  insult  to  China,  because  China's  sovereignty  in  Man- 
churia is  an  established  fact  without  Japan's  recognition.  Why 
is  it  necessary  for  Japan  to  recognise  it?  If,  as  he  suggests, 
Japan  should  say  that  we  recognise  China's  sovereignty,  and 
want  to  acquire  various  privileges,  then  that  means  that  we  will 
only  allow  the  name  of  sovereignty  to  China,  while  securing  the 
real  power  in  Manchuria.  China  will  suspect  us  of  trying  to 
make  a  figurehead  of  the  Chinese  Government.  Such  will  only 
encourage  the  enmity  of  China  toward  Japan.  Viscount  Kato 
is  a  veteran  diplomatist.  He  should  not  make  such  statements 
as  the  one  we  have  quoted." 

Was  the  real  campaign  for  the  real  friendship  of  China 
being  actually  begun  by  Japan  in  1916?  And  was  it  being 
begun  by  the  very  party  everyone  expected  would  be  the 
last  to  see  the  advantage  to  Japan  of  such  a  campaign  ? 

All  things  are  possible. 


CHAPTER  LVI 

THE   JAPANESE  ATTITUDE   TOWARD    AMERICAN    ENTERPRISE    IN 

CHINA 

The  Chinese  province  of  Kansu  lies  far  on  the  western 
borders  of  the  Celestial  Land. 

Kansu  is  a  mountainous  province,  but  rich  in  such 
commerce  as  has  sprung  from  its  position  on  the  border- 
land of  Tibet.  The  Kokonor  district  of  northern  Tibet  is 
one  of  the  most  promising  wool-producing  areas  extant. 
Hemp  and  rice  also  come  to  China  from  north-eastern 
Tibet  via  Kansu.  Furs,  tobacco,  and  all  manner  of 
vegetable  products  for  food,  medicines,  and  various  articles 
of  commercial  value  in  other  categories  come  from  this 
western  edge  of  China. 

Furthermore,  all  trade  that  has  been  done  has  grown 
gradually  without  the  aid  of  any  modern  lines  of  trans- 
portation. Waterways  to  the  southward  and  camel  trains 
to  the  north  and  east  have  carried  out  the  products  of  a 
fertile  land,  but  sparsely  populated,  which  is  reputed  by 
vague  report  and  ancient  legend  to  be  rich  in  undisturbed 
mineral  deposits  of  many  sorts. 

From  Tibet  and  Kansu  the  camel  trains  trek  north-east 
across  the  Mongolian  tablelands  ratlier  than  fight  a  tor- 
tuous way  over  mountainous  Shansi,  which  lies  due  east  of 
Kansu.  Further  to  the  northward  than  Peking  itself  the 
lines  of  laden  camels  wind  over  the  flat  country  to  Pao- 
tow-Chen,  a  Mongolian  town  on  the  banks  of  the  upper 
reaches  of  the  Hwang-ho  or  Yellow  River.  Pao-tow-Chen 
is  a  teeming  mart  of  Chinese  trade,  surrounded  by  an  ever- 
growing agricultural  district. 

On  to  the  eastward  another  hundred  miles  the  camels 
pad  the  primitive  roads,  to  Kwei-hwa-ting,  or  Kuei-hua- 
cheng  as  it  is  perhaps  as  frequently  called.  Here  is  the 
great  camel  mart  of  the  north  of  China,  at  the  convergence 
of  the  larger  caravan  trails.     Once  a  mere  isolated  trndin:^ 

2S1 


282  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

post  around  a  Mongol  monastery,  to-day  its  traders  boast 
an  ownership  of  80,000  camels.  Hides,  wool,  grain  and 
even  some  mineral  products  are  brought  to  Kwei-hwa-ting 
in  great  quantities  annually  by  its  army  of  ships  of  the 
desert. 

Not  much  more  than  one  hundred  miles  farther  east 
comes  Feng-chen,  the  end  of  the  Chinese  Government 
railway  that  leads  still  on  east  to  Kalgan  and  thence 
south-east  to  Peking. 

All  this  is  in  the  virgin  heart  of  China,  far  from  treaty 
ports  and  the  respective  spheres  of  influence  of  the  foreign 
Powers. 

Consequently,  when  an  agreement  was  made  with 
China  by  an  American  syndicate  which  proposed  to  con- 
struct a  railway  from  Feng-chen,  the  end  of  the  Chinese 
line,  west  to  Kwei-hwa-ting  and  still  on  w^est  to  Pao-tow- 
chen,  then  across  the  Mongolian  plains  to  Lan-chow-fu, 
the  capital  city  of  far  Kansu,  it  seemed  that  a  good  piece 
of  work  was  about  to  be  inaugurated. 

The  American  International  Corporation,  as  the  syn- 
dicate was  called,  had  ample  funds.  It  first  asked  China 
for  an  agreement  whereby  it  was  to  be  employed  to  re-dig 
the  Grand  Canal,  but  that  project  ran  counter  to  Japan's 
"interest"  in  Shantung,  where  Japan  argued  that  upon 
its  shoulders  had  fallen  the  mantle  of  the  vanquished  Ger- 
mans. So  when  the  scheme  was  broached,  the  corporation 
asked  China  for  an  agreement  employing  it  to  raise  funds 
and  carry  on  the  w'ork  of  construction  of  several  railway 
routes  in  China,  1,500  miles  in  length  in  all,  with  certain 
options  for  further  mileage.  The  line  through  Mongolia 
to  Kansu  was  to  be  the  longest. 

That  piece  of  work,  it  was  estimated,  would  cost  be- 
tween five  and  six  million  pounds  sterling  and  consume 
some  seven  years  in  the  building. 

The  contract  was  duly  signed,  after  great  delay  and 
palaver,  and  the  syndicate  was  authorised,  by  the  Chinese 
Government,  to  issue  5  per  cent,  bonds,  to  be  redeemed 
in  50  years,  to  cover  the  expenses  involved.  Messrs. 
Siems  and  Carey,  railway  contractors,  of  St.  Paul, 
Minnesota,  were  employed  by  the  American  International 
Corporation  and  sent  to  China  to  commence  the  work  with- 
out further  delay. 


JAPAN  AND   AMERICAN  ENTERPRISE    283 

All  this  was  open  and  above  board.  It  had  nothing' 
'in  common  with  the  foreign  forced  concession  so  familiar 
in  China.  It  was  a  purely  non-political  business  deal. 
No  work  ever  planned  was  more  clearly  a  work  of  develop- 
ment without  a  particle  of  politics  about  it. 

The  Japanese  Press  howled  like  mad.  A  railway  in 
China,  particularly  in  Mongolia,  was  abhorrent  to  the 
minds  of  the  same  papers  that  had  been  lauding  the  idea 
that  American  capital  might  help  develop  the  resources 
of  the  poverty-stricken  Chinese  Republic.  Russia  was 
equally  upset.  American  capital  in  a  Chinese  enterprise 
that  meant  the  fair  and  free  development  of  Mongolia 
stank  in  Russia's  nostrils. 

Railways  in  China  were  desirable.  All  admitted  that. 
Russia  and  Japan  had  railways  in  Chinese  territory.  Japan 
tried  to  force  China  by  the  Five  Group  Demands  in  1915 
to  grant  concessions  to  build  many  more.  But  American 
capital  back  of  railways  was  a  very  different  matter  indeed. 
The  good  of  China  and  the  Chinese  apparently  did  not 
matter  twopence.  The  good  of  Russia  and  Japan  was 
in  the  balance.  How  could  they  benefit  ?  Not  at  all, 
except  by  fair,  open  and  above-board  means.  That  was 
clear.  Fair  means  in  Mongolia  were  not  good  enough, 
it  seemed,  for  either  Japan  or  Russia,  so  they  dropped 
down  on  the  Siems-Carey  projects  without  delay. 

The  American  International  Corporation  pointed  out 
that  its  railway  construction  scheme  had  no  political 
flavour.  The  work  was  to  be  carried  on  under  the  super- 
vision of  the  Chinese  Minister  of  Communications  and 
a  Chinese  Director-General  was  to  be  placed  in  charge. 
While  the  engineers,  accountants  and  skilled  mechanics 
would  more  than  likely  be  Americans,  the  Chinese  were 
to  approve  of  such  selections. 

The  protests  lodged  by  Japan  and  Russia  were 
followed,  hot  foot,  by  protests  from  England  and  France, 
so  it  was  said,  with  reference  to  some  of  the  other  proposed 
lines  that  the  Chinese  Government  wanted  the  American 
syndicate  to  construct  farther  south.  All  sorts  of  stories, 
many  of  them  obviously  inspired  and  most  of  them 
obviously  false,  filled  the  Oriental  air. 

The  Peking  Gazette,  in  October,  tried  to  stem  this 
tide   by  saying  editorially  that   "statements  have  begun 


284  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

lo  creep  into  certain  newspapers  hinting  that  the  American 
contractors  have  either  advanced  cash  or  are  prepared  to 
make  cash  advances  to  the  Government.  No  fiction  could 
be  more  mischievous.  We  are  in  a  position  to  state  that 
not  only  has  there  never  been  any  question  of  any  such 
advances,  but  that  there  are  no  means  of  making  them, 
as  the  agreements  signed  are  building  contracts  pure  and 
simple,  which  will  be  entirely  financed  by  public  bond 
issues  in  America  when  the  surveys  in  China  are  com- 
plete. What  has  been  done  so  far  has  been  to  set  apart 
a  fund  of  ^^100,000  to  carry  out  surveys.  Of  this  amount 
only  ;^5,ooo  has  been  spent  in  preliminary  work,  which 
will  be  more  rapidly  developed  with  the  arrival  of  a  full 
staff  of  engineers. 

"After  the  long  struggle  in  concessions  experienced  in 
Peking  during  the  last  two  decades,  it  is  no  doubt  hard 
for  people  to  accustom  themselves  to  the  idea  of  a  pure 
piece  of  contracting  work  w^ithout  political  flavour  which 
will  make  for  the  peaceful  development  of  this  country. 
But  this  is  precisely  what  the  -energy  and  ability  of  Mr. 
Carey,  as  representative  of  the  American  contractors,  have 
secured." 

I  was  anxious  to  be  perfectly  fair  to  the  Japanese  point 
of  view  on  this  subject.  I  put  many  questions  on  this 
topic  to  more  than  one  incumbent  of  high  office  in  Japan. 
I  found  a  general  disinclination  on  the  part  of  some  of 
Japan's  statesmen  to  discuss  the  question  frankly. 

Then  out  came  the  Tokyo  Asahi  with  a  leader  on  the 
subject.  I  was  able  to  discover  that  its  tone  was  the 
generally  accepted  Japanese  tone.  I  give  the  leader  in 
full  as  follows  : 


"The  Siems-Carey  Company's  loan  scheme  was  broached 
early  in  the  spring-,  while  President  Yuan  was  living.  The 
scheme  provided  for  the  construction  of  a  big  trunk  line 
traversing  Shansi,  Kansu,  Szechuan,  Yunnan,  Kwangtung, 
and  Kwangsi.  This  loan  was  preliminarily  agreed  upon  in 
May,  but  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  territories  to  be  covered 
were  wide,  and  as  there  was  a  fear  of  interfering  with  the 
acquired  concessions  of  other  nations,  the  Americans  interested 
in  the  scheme  and  the  Chinese  Government  revised  it  in 
September.     But  the  five  lines  which  were  agreed  upon  in  the 


JAPAN  AND  AMERICAN  ENTERPRISE    285 

revised  contract  will  conflict  with  the  interests  of  England, 
France  and  Russia,  which  nations  possess  rights  of  their  own. 
Yet  the  Chinese  Government,  regardless  of  these  matters, 
with  the  revision  of  the  contract  received  (sic)  ;;^  100,000  as  an 
advance  payment.  The  Chinese  Government  is  indeed  very 
insincere  in  concluding  such  a  contract,  disregarding  the 
already  acquired  rights  of  others.  So  protest  after  protest 
was  made  by  the  interested  Powers,  so  that  the  revised  contract 
is  to  be  revised  again,  it  is  reported. 

"  These  protests  and  needs  for  revision  have  been  seen  from 
the  beginning,  and  the  American  scheme  was  a  reckless  one, 
indeed.  The  rumour  of  revising  the  clause  as  to  the  line  in 
Hainan  Island  into  a  big  line  from  Chuchow  to  Chinchow 
presages  a  fresh  protest  from  France,  as  it  will  conflict  with 
the  acquired  rights  of  France  there.  It  is  a  more  serious 
breach  of  French  rights  than  the  former  scheme  in  Kansu. 
England  will  also  protest,  because  she  has  protested  before 
regarding  a  line  from  Hanchow  to  Nanning  in  Kwangtung. 
All  these  things  result  from  the  lack  of  sincerity  on  the  part 
of  the  Chinese  Government.  It  is  very  likely  that  revision 
after  revision  will  be  made  in  the  American  loan  contract. 
Although  it  is  a  good  thing  to  build  railways  in  China  in  order 
to  help  develop  the  civilisation  of  that  country,  yet  the  Chinese 
Government  should  be  a  little  more  careful  in  making  railway 
contracts,  always  taking  thought  as  to  the  already  acquired 
rights  of  the  foreign  Powers  before  entering  into  any  new 
contract." 

Equal  opportunity  in  China,  from  the  Japanese  stand- 
point, stops  short  when  it  comes  to  allowing  American 
capital  to  develop  China.  Russia,  England  and  France 
are  evidently,  in  some  degree,  of  the  same  opinion  as 
Japan. 

I  doubt  if  the  Siems-Carey  Company  will  ever  construct 
a  railway  line  across  Mongolia  to  far  Kansu. 

If  it  constructs  any  railway  line  in  China  I  shall  be 
surprised,  unless  the  project  be  an  Anglo-American  one. 
That  would  be  the  best  solution  of  the  matter. 

But  Americans  may  learn  something  from  the  object 
lesson  given  them  by  the  experience  of  the  Siems-Carey 
Company. 

So,  'also,  may  the  Chinese. 

I  wonder  what  the  Chinese  editor  thinks  to-day,  who 
wrote  the  following  : 


286  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

"The  contract  for  the  construction  of  lines  in  Shansi, 
Kansu,  Hunan,  Kuangsi,  Chekiang^  and  Kuangtung  is  a 
straight-out  business  proposition.  There  are  no  political 
strings  attached  to  it,  the  Chinese  Government  wants  the  lines 
built  and  is  satisfied  with  the  terms  upon  which  the  American 
interests  concerned  are  prepared  to  build  them.  Nearly  every 
railway  concession  granted  hitherto  in  China  has  been  mixed 
up  to  some  extent  in  politics. 

"  In  spite  of  the  fact  that  every  nation  of  importance  has 
subscribed  to  the  principle  of  equal  opportunity  in  China,  in 
the  sphere  of  railway  construction  agreements  have  been  made 
recognising  certain  regions  as  the  close  preserves  of  certain 
nations.  This  is  a  direct  negation  of  the  principle  of  equal 
opportunity,  and  also  vitiates  the  guarantee  to  preserve 
China's  independence,  which  many  of  the  nations  concerned 
have  given. 

"  A  country  is  not  independent  in  the  real  sense  of  the  word 
if  it  cannot  formulate  a  national  railway  policy  without  obtain- 
ing permission  from  alien  governments.  In  the  past,  lines 
which  the  Chinese  Government  decided  were  necessary,  for 
commercial  or  strategic  reasons,  have  been  vetoed  by  nations 
that  had  guaranteed  to  preserve  China's  independence.  It  is 
the  knowledge  that  the  contract  with  the  American  Inter- 
national Corporation  in  no  way  jeopardises  any  of  China's 
rights  that  accounts  for  the  satisfaction  with  which  the  news 
of  the  signing  of  the  contract  has  been  received  by  the 
Chinese." 

That  satisfaction  will  long"  ago  have  vi^ithered  away. 


CHAPTER    LVII 

JAPAN  AND  AMERICAN  CAPITAL 

"Now  the  question  is,"  wrote  Viscount  Kentaro  Kaneko, 
in  the  Chuwo  Koron,  an  important  and  leading  Japanese 
monthly  magazine,  "will  America  and  Japan  compete 
fiercely  in  China,  where  it  is  obviously  to  America's 
interest  to  do  her  best  to  finance  or  invest  in  Chinese 
enterprises,  or  go  amicably  hand  in  hand  to  promote  their 
mutual  interest  ? 

"The  latter  is  the  wiser  course.  For  whichever  party 
may  win  in  the  competition,  it  is  quite  sure  that  the  de- 
feated party  cannot  but  entertain  jealous,  unfriendly  feel- 
ings against  the  conqueror,  which  would,  of  course,  give 
a  plausible  chance  to  the  yellow  press  and  ambitious  politi- 
cians to  talk  of  a  war  between  the  United  States  and 
Japan." 

Viscount  Kaneko,  a  Privy  Councillor  of  Japan,  is  a 
graduate  of  Harvard  University  and  is  President  of  a 
society  called  the  America's  Friends  Association. 

Another  writer  on  the  same  subject  attracts  much  atten- 
tion in  Japan.  His  name  is  Shigeo  Suehiro.  He  is  a  pro- 
fessor in  the  Law  College  of  the  Imperial  University  at 
Kyoto.  Professor  Suehiro  studied  in  Germany.  He  has 
visited  the  United  States.  His  articles  on  political  and 
diplomatic  subjects  are  frequently  in  evidence  in  Japan, 
and  are  widely  read.  Like  Viscount  Kaneko,  he  wrote 
an  article  for  the  Chuwo  Koron,  in  which  several 
similar  articles  appeared  under  the  heading,  "A  Study  of 
the  United  States."  As  Professor  Suehiro's  article  was 
very  typical,  I  choose  it  as  representative  of  the  thought  of 
his  class  in  Japan  on  the  subject  of  China  as  a  commercial 
field  for  Japan  or  America  or  both. 

"Americo-Japanese  friendship,"  wrote  Suehiro,  "like 
Sino-Japanese  friendship,  is  an  anomalous  phrase,  though 
it  is  very  frequently  talked  about.     In   reality  there  are 

287 


288  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

several  disturbing  troubles  in  the  relations  of  these  coun- 
tries. In  the  case  of  the  Americo-Japanese  relations,  the 
United  States  stands  in  the  position  of  an  active  agent  and 
Japan  a  passive  agent ;  so  that  whether  or  not  the  unsolved 
problems  lying  between  the  United  States  and  Japan 
should  develop  a  serious  crisis  depends  chiefly  on  the  atti- 
tude Japan  would  take. 

"One  of  these  problems  concerns  the  South  Sea  Islands 
which  are  under  Japanese  occupation.  As  these  islands  are 
situated  between  the  Philippine  Islands  and  the  United 
States,  their  occupation  by  Japan  is  naturally  a  problem 
of  serious  strategical  importance  to  the  United  States." 
(This  might  read  like  a  joke  to  Americans,  but  it  shows 
the  sort  of  thing  that  Japan's  prominent  law  professors 
feed  to  the  young  men  who  study  under  them.)  "Many 
Americans  are  hoping  that  Japan  may  not  continue  to 
occupy  them.  But  as  it  is  most  unlikely  that  Japan  should 
let  go  her  hold  on  the  islands,  there  is  a  possibility  of  the 
problem  proving  in  the  future  the  cause  of  some  dissension 
between  the  two  countries. 

"A  second  problem  concerns  China.  The  attitude  which 
the  United  States  takes  towards  Japan  concerning  Chinese 
problems  is  ever  high-handed,  and  makes  us  highly  dis- 
contented. The  attitude  shown  by  the  United  States  in  the 
spring  of  last  year  concerning  the  Sino-Japanese  negotia- 
tions and  also  in  the  affair  of  Cheng  Chia  Tung,  recently,  is 
as  highly  offensive  as  if  she  were  the  supervisor  of  Japan's 
diplomacy  vis-d-vis  China.  Of  course,  the  Americo-Japan 
treaty  of  1908  empowers  the  United  States  to  champion  the 
maintenance  of  the  status  quo  in  China  and  of  the  prin- 
ciples of  equal  opportunity,  but  we  should  be  far  from 
pleased  to  see  the  United  States  acting  at  every  turn  as  if 
she  were  the  only  guardian  of  the  Open  Door  and  equal 
opportunity  principles  in  China.  This  unreserved  American 
attitude  is  calculated  to  make  worse  the  misunderstanding 
between  the  two  countries. 

"There  is  another  thing  that  serves  to  harm  the 
Americo-Japanese  friendship,  and  that  is  the  economic 
rivalry  in  China  between  the  United  States  and  Japan,  The 
present  war  is  benefiting  both  countries.  Japan's  gain  is 
considerable,  but  it  is  small  compared  with  what  the  United 
States  has  obtained.     Her  prosperity  brought  by  the  war 


JAPAN  AND    AMERICAN    CAPITAL       289 

is  simply  wonderful.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the  United 
States  will  devote  this  newly  acquired  wealth  to  the  cultiva- 
tion of  new  resources  and  establishing  new  markets.  There 
is  every  reason  why  America  should  endeavour  to  open 
new  economic  markets  in  China.  And  as  America  intrudes 
into  China  economically,  she  cannot  avoid  finding  herself 
face  to  face  with  a  rival  called  Japan.  As  the  economic 
competition  grows  keener,  it  is  inevitable  that  there  should 
arise  political  differences.  I  fear  whether  the  relations 
between  the  United  States  and  Japan  should  not  come  to 
resemble  somewhat  those  existing  between  Germany  and 
England  before  the  present  war. 

"In  order  to  lessen  the  danger  of  armed  collision 
between  the  United  States  and  Japan,  our  Baron 
Shibusawa,  during  his  sojourn  in  America,  proposed  that 
Americans  and  Japanese  should  start  many  joint  enter- 
prises and  thereby  try  to  avoid  all  risky  competition.  But 
this  proposal  was  not  met  with  as  much  welcome  as  one 
could  desire.  Judge  Gary  also  advocated  co-operation  of 
Japanese  and  American  business  men  with  a  view  of  pro- 
moting Americo-Japanese  friendship.  He  suggested  that 
in  case  both  countries  are  to  trade  in  a  third  country,  say 
China,  they  are  to  define  their  mutual  spheres  of  commer- 
cial activities  so  as  to  avoid  harmful  competition.  Such  a 
policy,  though  not  impossible,  has  some  drawbacks,  and 
one  cannot  but  wonder  how  our  business  men  will  con- 
sider it." 

The  remainder  of  the  article  urged  Japan  to  force  the 
United  States  to  give  recognition  to  the  equality  of  the 
Japanese. 

An  actual  American  loan  to  China  was  proposed  in 
1916,  on  which  some  of  the  talkers  in  Japan  could  hang 
their  arguments. 

A  loan  of  ;^i,ooo,ooo  was  concluded  between  the  Con- 
tinental Commercial  Bank  of  Chicago  and  the  Chinese 
Government.  The  mone}^  was  to  be  used  in  reorganising 
the  Bank  of  China  and  putting  it  on  its  feet.  As  security 
China  pledged  her  liquor  and  tobacco  taxes. 

At  once  the  four  Allied  Powers  of  the  old  quintuple 

banking  group,  reduced  bv  one  on  account  of  Germany's 

isolation,  filed  an  international  protest.     China  hnd  asked 

the  allied  group  for  a  loan,  and  the  matter  was  still  under 

T  ^ 


290  THE    FAR    EAST  UNVEILED 

consideration,  though  no  reply  had  been  forthcoming.  So 
until  December  14,  the  time  set  for  an  answer,  though 
China  might  be  in  dire  need  financially  and  know  nothing 
of  what  the  English,  French,  Russian,  and  Japanese  group 
planned  to  do  for  her,  if  indeed  it  pleased  to  do  aught,  she 
could  not  take  a  penny  of  relief  from  other  sources. 

Japan's  attitude  towards  the  American  loan  can  be 
judged  from  three  quotations.  The  first  is  from  an  inter- 
view with  a  really  broad-minded  Japanese  business  man. 
Perhaps  not  ten  men  of  his  class  in  Japan  would  agree  with 
him,  but  his  ideas  are  none  the  less  sound,  and  show 
signs  of  a  spirit  that  merits  encouragement. 

He  said  :  "  If  the  international  bankers  are  obstructing 
American  loans  because  of  their  own  immediate  profits, 
they  are  taking  a  discreditable  stand.  America  and  the 
Americans  have  no  political  ambitions  m  China.  The 
position  of  the  United  States  in  China  is  altogether  dif- 
ferent from  that  of  Japan.  While  Japan  may  not  welcome 
any  move  which  jeopardises  her  political  privileges  in 
China,  she  need  fear  no  harm  from  the  investment  of 
American  capital.    She  should  give  it  encouragement." 

Mr.  Tokutomi,  of  the  Tokyo  Kokiimin,  wrote  as 
follows  : 

"It  is  to  be  presumed  that  hereafter  American  capital  will 
flow  into  China  in  a  great  stream.  This  means  a  change  of  the 
policy  of  America  toward  the  loan  question  in  China.  The 
quadruple  group  should  take  a  new  step  to  meet  the  new  situa- 
tion. It  will  not  permit  other  nations  to  trample  upon  its 
privilege  of  making  loans  to  China.  Already  a  protest  has 
been  made  to  China  during  the  Okuma  Ministry  against 
outside  interference.  If  the  American  Government  and  the 
capitalists  mean  to  change  their  policy  and  to  make  loans  to 
China,  they  should  expect  to  come  into  entangling  conflict 
with  other  Powers  interested  in  China.  We  do  not  like  to 
see  America  coming  into  such  conflicts.  Beside,  the  Govern- 
ment and  people  of  China  are  in  need  of  outside  financial 
assistance.  China  is  like  a  small  fish  in  a  roadside  pool.  She 
will  die  like  the  fish  after  the  pool  dries  up,  unless  relief  be 
forthcoming  at  once.  The  European  Powers  are  unable  to 
come  to  the  assistance  of  China  now.  Japan  and  America 
are  the  only  two  Powers  available  for  borrowing.  China  is 
like  a  deer  which  is  indifferent  to  the  quality  of  sound.     She 


JAPAN    AND    AMERICAN    CAPITAL      291 

does  not  discriminate  between  any  contracts  or  usages.  To-day 
the  best  policy  is  to  induce  America  to  invest  capital  in  China 
by  bringing-  her  into  the  international  group.  The  Americans 
arc  now  enthusiastic  about  investing  capital  in  China.  No 
matter  under  what  name,  such  investment  will  be  a  political 
loan.  The  present  is  the  most  opportune  time  to  take  proper 
steps  toward  co-operation  with  the  American  Government  and 
financiers." 

Another  Japanese  view  can  be  gathered  from  the  follow- 
ing leader  in  the  Tokyo  Yomiuri: 

"  The  quintuple  group  are  justified  in  protesting  against 
loans  made  by  America  to  China.  The  Chinese  Government 
is  to  be  blamed  for  contracting  loans  outside  of  the  group. 
But  that  it  was  compelled  to  seek  loans  outside  the  group  was 
not  the  fault  of  the  Chinese  Government  alone.  Negotiations 
have  been  carried  on  several  times  between  the  Chinese  Govern- 
ment and  the  quintuple  group  for  a  big  loan,  but  these  nego- 
tiations failed.  There  is  not  much  possibility  that  the  big 
loan  will  be  pulled  through  at  present.  At  such  time,  it  does 
not  require  great  intelligence  to  know  that  the  Chinese 
Government  will  seek  loans  elsewhere.  The  Japanese  are 
accustomed  to  say  that  Japan  is  the  lord  of  the  Orient,  and 
that  to  guide  and  lead  China  is  the  duty  of  Japan.  At  the 
present  time,  when  China  cannot  secure  capital  from  Europe, 
Japanese  capitalists  should  take  the  lead  in  assisting  China. 
Japan,  unlike  America,  is  a  member  of  the  quintuple  group. 
She  is  in  a  most  convenient  position  to  stand  between  the 
Chinese  Government  and  the  quintuple  group.  If  the  Chinese 
Government  seeks  relief  elsewhere  it  reflects  the  negligence 
of  the  Japanese." 

Along  this  line  I  noted  the  remarks  made  to  a  gather- 
ing of  Tokyo  newspaper  men  by  Mr.  Obata,  on  the  oc- 
casion of  his  retirement  from  the  councillorship  of  the 
Japanese  Legation  at  Peking.  He  spoke  of  how  differently 
the  Chinese  looked  upon  two  proposed  industrial  loans  to 
China,  one  of  5,000,000  yen  (^500,000)  by  a  Japanese  com- 
pany, and  one  of  something  like  $100,000,000  (;^20,ooo,ooo) 
by  American  capitalists.  The  Japanese  loan  was  the  one 
which  planned  to  acquire  Chinese  mining  rights  as  security. 
The  larger  loan  referred  to  was  the  American  project  which 
embraced  the  Siems-Carey  railway  scheme. 


292  THE    FAR   EAST  UNVEILED 

"The  Chinese  were  furiously  aroused,"  said  Mr.  Obata, 
"when  they  heard  that  their  Government  had  concluded  the 
loan  with  the  Japanese,  but  they  remained  perfectly  silent 
toward  the  big  American  loan.  Both  loans  were  aimed  at 
developing  sources  of  wealth  in  China.  The  American 
loan  was  far  bigger  and  its  terms  were  more  strict,  yet  the 
Chinese  objected  to  the  Japanese  proposition  and  silently 
accepted  the  American  issue.  This  difference  in  attitude 
has  a  great  deal  to  do  with  the  future  of  industrial  activities 
of  Japanese  capitalists  in  China." 

Now  for  one  last  quotation,  a  brief  one.  The  Osaka 
Mainichi  printed  a  leader  in  November,  1916,  in  which  it 
put  three  questions  as  to  the  conclusion  of  the  $5,000,000 
(;^ 1, 000, 000)  loan  by  the  Continental  Commercial  Bank  of 
Chicago  to  the  Chinese  Government  as  follows  :  ' 

"(i)  Has  the  Chinese  Government  negotiated  with  the 
international  group  for  cancellation  of  the  previous  agree- 
ment as  to  exclusive  privileges  of  making  loans  to  China  ? 

"(2)  Has  the  Chinese  Government  merely  trampled  the 
privileges  of  the  group  ? 

"(3)  Have  the  group  bankers  taken  proper  steps  to  pre- 
vent the  American  loans  or  have  they  only  let  the  Chinese 
trample  upon  their  privileges?" 

I  have  been  careful  not  to  quote  r  weird  excerpts  from 
irresponsible  Japanese  newspapers.  I  have  quoted  only 
representative  leading  articles  that  carried  in  them  the  tone 
of  popular  or  influential  thought  in  Japan. 

My  stay  in  Japan  convinced  me  that  American  capital 
will  find  little  opportunity  for  independent  investment  in 
China,  however  non-political  its  schemes  may  be,  if  Japan 
can  get  her  own  sweet  way. 

Will  she  get  her  way  ? 

She  will  unless  the  American  Government  makes  a 
great  fundamental  change  in  its  policy,  which  could  only 
be  born  of  a  great  change  of  heart. 

All  things  are  possible.  The  change  of  heart  may 
come. 


liNDEX 


Adachi,    Mr.,   forms  a  new   party, 

275 
America,    a    frustrated    scheme    in 
Manchuria,  142 
agreement  to  construct  a  railway 
in  China,  282 
{Cf.  Siems-Carey) 
and    Japanese    policy    in    Man- 
churia, 8 
favourable  reception  of  Terauchi's 

policy,   261 
"high-handed    attitude    towards 

Japan,"  288 
relations  with  Japan,  220,  243 
scheme  of   investment  of   capital 
in  China,  234 
{See  also  United   States) 
American     Associated     Press,     the 
Tokyo  correspondent  of,  260 
American     enterprise     in     China  : 
Japanese  attitude,  281  et  seq. 
American     International     Corpora- 
tion, the,  282 
loan  to  China  :    an  international 

protest,  289 
loans,  Japanese  views  of,  290-92 
Americans   in   Manchuria,    141 
America's  Friend  Association,  the, 

and  its  President,  287 
Americo- Japan  Treaty,  288 
Anglo- Japanese  Alliance,  the,  125 
and     the     Japanese     Press,      17 

et  seq. 
Terauchi  on,  264 
the  embargo  question,  198 
Tokutomi  on,  242 
Aoki,   General,   and   the  reform  of 
China's  Army,  61 
appointment  confirmed,  62 
President  Li  questioned,  95 
Army  and  Navy,  Japanese,  254 
Asahi,  the,  attacks  Terauchi,  239 


Asahi,  the  {continued) — 
discusses      Siems  -  Carey      Com- 
pany's loan  scheme,  234 
its  influence  in  Japan,  19,  230 
leader   on   the    Siems-Carey   loan 

scheme,  284 
on  Terauchi's  "  ideals,"  265 
on   the   coup   of    the   Genro,    230 

et  seq. 
on  the  Kenseikai  party,  275 
on  Viscount  Motono,  278 
significant  sideilights  from,  229 
view  of  foreign  affairs,  232 
Asiatic     labour     barred     by     Aus- 
tralia, 244 
Australia,      alleged     anti-Japanese 
attitude  in,  20 
as  "follower"  of  America,  243 
oflScial  report  on  Japanese  goods 
in,   184 


B 

Bills  of   lading,   the   South   Man- 

churian  l^ilway  and,   122 
Boxer  Rebellion,  the,  88,  26S 
British,  the,  anxiety  as  to  Japan's 

action  in  Manchuria,  12 
Brown,       Mr.,       British      Consul- 

General  at  Hankow,  80 
Byas,    Hugh,   criticises   Terauchi's 

pronouncement,  266 
editor  of  Japan  Advertiser,  223 
interviews  Okuma,  226 


Canada,  alleged  anti-Japanese  atti- 
tude in,   20 

Chang    Chih    Tung,    erects    blast 
furnaces  at  Hanyang,  49 
Viceroy  of  the  two  Kwangs,  48 

Chang  Hsun  and  his  party,  233 


294 


INDEX 


Chang  Tso  Lin,  Chinese  Governor 

of  Manchuria,   142 
dislike  of  Mr.  Ma,  146 
Cheng  Chia  Tung  affair,  the,  60 
attitude  of  the  U.S.A.,  288 
Haj'ashi  and,  70,  78 
China,  a  new  attitude  towards,  277 

et  seq. 
a      prospective,     loan      by      the 

Powers,  59 
agreement  with  American  syndi- 
cate, 282 
American  enterprise  in  :   attitude 

of  Japan,  281  et  seq. 
an  alleged  anti-Japanese  attitude 

in,  21,  23 
an    American    loan    to — and    an 

international  protest,  289 
an  interview  with  the  President, 

93 

as   Japan's   natural    field    of    de- 
velopment, 4 
Boxer  troubles  in,  88,   268 
camel  mart  of,  281 
causes  of  racial  dislike  in,  23 
economic    rivalry    between    U.S. 

and  Japan  in,  288 
financial    difficulties  :     President 

Li's  views,  94,  95 
future    of  :    Wu    Ting    Fang    on 

the,   28 
future  problems  in,  31 
her  need  of  money,  34,  39 
inland  metropolis  of,  44 
Japanese  dishonesty  in,  208 
Japanese  militarism  in,  61 
Japan's     race      for     commercial 

supremacy  in,  4 
Japan's  treaty   agreements   with, 

125  et  seq. 
Japan's  view  of  the  Open  Door 

in,  6 
lack  of  organising  ability  in,  33, 

36,  40 
Land    Tax    and    question    of    its 

control,  39,  41,  60,  94,  95 
law  as  to  mining  shares,  55 
leases     Chinchow     Peninsula    to 

Russia,  97 
mistrust  of  Japanese,  79 
need  of  currency  reform  in,  28 
nepotism  in,   31,   32,   33,   50 
question  of  investment  of  Ameri- 
can capital^,  234 
railways  in,  282,  283 


China  [contitiued) — 

receives    the    "  Five    Group    De- 
mands "  from  Japan,  43 
revolutions   in :    views  of   Liang 

Chi  Chao  on,  38 
sidelights  on,  27  et  seq. 
sovereignty  in  Manchuria  :  ques- 
tion of,  87,  142,  150,  280 
"squeeze  system"  in,  32,  50 
the  Customs  taken  over,  40 
the   Land    Ta.x   question  :    Presi- 
dent Li's  views,  94 
the  salt  gabelle,  34,  59,  94,  95 
the    "two    Kwangs "    and    "two 

Hus,"   48 
traitorous  conduct  of  Yuan  Shih 

Kai,   74 
trade  with,  281 

transportation  difficulties  in,  281 
what  Five  Group  control  means, 
92 
China-Japanese   War,    an    incident 
in,   141 
Bombay  trade  and,  15 
cause  of,  36 
China   Merchants   Steamship   Com- 
pany,   the,    Wu    Ting    Fang 
and,  31,  32  et  seq. 
China,  South,  a  formidable  revolu- 
tion in,  39 
Chinchow  Peninsula  leased  to  Rus- 
sia, 97 
Chinese   Bank  of   Communications, 

47 
Chinese  Eastern  Railway,  the,  103 
Chinese  finance,  the  Great  Powers 
and,  79,  90 
labour,  no  et  seq. 

Captain  Narasaki  on,  118 
territory,      Japanese     occupation 
of,  justified,   275 
Chinese    Republic,    the,    the    first 

President  of,  40 
Chinese    Revolution   of    191 1,    the, 

51.  52 
Yuan  Shih  Kai  and,  75 
Chosen,     Japanese     administration 
and  control  of  :  an  American 
doctor's  views,   152 
population  of,   154 
the  Japanese  language  forced  on 
natives,   155 
[Cf.  Korea) 
Chosen  Railway,  the,   129 
object  to  set  rate  agreement,  131 


INDEX 


295 


Chugai  Shogyo,  the,  on  commercial 
immorality,   211 
on  the  Terauchi  Ministry,  240 
Chuseikai  party,  the,  231,  273 
Chuwo,      the,      criticises      Kate's 
speech,  279 
on  Okuma  and  Terauchi,  239 
Chuwo  Koron  Magazine,  tie,  287 
Coal  mines  in  China,  50,  51 
Manchurian,  103,  109,  128,  143 
of  Yangtze  Valley,  44 
Commercial   immorality,    Japanese, 

2S>  i-Zl^  185,  207,  208,  210 
Compulsory     military     service     in 

Japan,  248 
Copyright     law,     absence     of,     in 

China,    25 
Cotton  hosiery  factories  in  Osaka, 
labour  conditions  in,  178,  179 
industry,  Japanese,  the,  170 

an  embargo  on,  196 
mills,  hours  and  wages,  172,  173 
Crowe,    Mr.,    British    Commercial 

Attach^  in  Japan,  177 
Customs  tax   (Likin),  95,   121,   143, 
147,  148 


Dai-NicJii  Shimbun,  the,  on  Anglo- 
Japanese  Agreement,  ig 
Dairen  (Dalny),  97,  98,  99 
complaints      of      obstruction      to 

British  trade  at,  12 
coolie  labour  at  docks,  116  et  seq. 
daily  tonnage  of  freight  in,  118 
growth  of  business  of,   120,   121 
harbour  of,   116 
situation  of,  97 
Dalny   (see  Dairen,  supra) 
Dane,    Sir    Richard,   and   the   salt 

tax,  34,  94 
Den,     Baron,     post     in     Terauchi 

Cabinet,  237 
Doshikai  party,  the,  231,  273,  275, 
276 


Egypt,  England  and,  91 
Emigration,     Japanese,     Toktitomi 

on,  244 
Enamelled  ware,  Japanese,  184 
a  factory  at  Osaka,  185 


luigland    and    Japanese    policy    in 
Manchuria,  8 

Egypt  and,  91 

embargo  on  Japanese  imports,  195 

Government      commandeer      fac- 
tories in,  195 

protests  against  a  projected  rail- 
way, 283 

Terauchi's  message  to,  269 
Exports,  Japanese  and  Manchurian, 
121,   186,   196,  203,   205,   210, 
211,  281 


Factories,  Japanese,  rate  of  wages 
in,  105,  113,  171,  172-3,  179, 
187,  214  ei  seq. 
work-girls'  dormitories  in,   178 
Factory  Act,  a  new,  217 
Fans,  Japanese,   166 
Far   East,   the,   anxiety  of   British 
merchants  on  Japan's  action 
in  Manchuria,  12 
commercial    immorality    in,     25, 

137.   185,  207,  208,  210 
competitors  for  British  trade  in, 
26 
Far    Eastern    Review,    the,    J.    W. 

Jenks  on,   242 
Feng-chen,  282 

"Five    Group    Demands,"    the,    43 
et  seq.,  224,  275,  283 
an  American  on,  145 
Mr.   Ma  on,   149 
Ozaki  on,  191 

the  Military  Party  and,  85 
the   scapegoats,    70,    85 
Formosa,    a    valiant    revolutionary 
leader   in,   141 
and  the  sugar  duties,   206 
France  and  Egypt,  91 
protests  against   Feng-chen  rail- 
way, 283 
Franchise,  Japanese,  278,  279 
Freight   rates,    admissions   of   pre- 
ference to  Japanese,  132 
question  of,  13,  129,  130 
(Cf.     Railway     and     shipping 
rebates) 
Fukui,  hours  of  labour  in  weaving 
factory  at,  162,  163 
Kato's  address  to  the  Kenseikai 

party  at,  278 
weaving  industry  of,  161 


296 


INDEX 


Fukushima,     Baron,     and     freight 

rates,  130 
Fushun  Coal  Mine,  the,   103,    109, 

128,  143 


Gary,   Judge,  head  of  the  Ameri- 

caji  Steel  Trust,  221 
Genro,    the,    and    their    functions, 
223,   274,   277 
and  Kato,  224 
and  their  powers,  254 
deliberates  on  draft  on  constitu- 
tion, 250 
Press  criticisms  of,  231 
German    in    Manchuria,    the :    an 

Englishman  on,  135  et  seq. 
Germany  :     her     pre-War     imports 
into  Manchuria,   119 
Japanese  capture  Tsing-tau,  213 
Shantung  captured  by  Japanese, 
200 
Girl    labour    in    cotton    goods    in- 
dustry,  171  et  seq. 
Goto,  Baron,  and  Doshikai  party, 

27s 
post  in  the  Terauchi  Cabinet,  237 
Great    Britain,    embargo   on    ship- 
ments of  hosiery,   195  et  seq. 
Kato's  copy   of   the   Five   Group 

Demands,   73 
prohibits    imports    from    Japan, 
170 
Great  Powers,  the,  Hayashi's  sug- 
gestion on   Chinese  finances, 

79>  90 
Great  War,  the  :   English  factories 
commandeered     by     Govern- 
ment, 195 
Japanese  co-operation,   264 
Japan's  part  in,  269 
two  sides  of  the  picture,  200 
Guthrie,    Mr.,   American   Ambassa- 
dor in  Tokyo,  71 


H 

Habutae      weaving      industry      of 

Japan,  the,  161  et  seq. 
Hankow,  a  valuable  site  in,  46,  47 
growth  of,    after    191 1    Rebellion, 

49 
inland  metropolis  of  China,  44 
population,  49 


j   Hanyang  and  its  population,  48,  49 
Hanyang  Ironworks,  the,  46,  49,  50 
Hanyeping    Iron    and    Coal    Com- 
pany, the,  44  et  seq. 
a  loan  from  Japan,  52  et  seq. 
an  important   document,   63 
genesis  of,  48  et  seq. 
Japanese  capital  in,  52 
origin  of  name,  51 
Hara,        Mr.,       leader       of       the 
Seiyukai   party,   273 
the  suffrage  question,  278 
Harbin,  Japanese  loans  in,  104 
Harrison,        Governor,        in       the 

Philippines,   151 
Hart,  Sir  Robert,  and  the  Chinese 

Customs,  40 
Hay,    John,    and    the    Open    Door 

policy,  125 
Hayashi,    Baron,    and    Yuan    Shih 
Kai,  74,  75 
condemns  anti-British  Press  cam- 
paign, 80,   190 
in  Italy,  70 
personality  of,  70,  72 
Sir  J.  Jordan's  tribute  to,  69 
transferred  to  Peking,  71 
Hioki,    Mr.    (Japanese   Minister   in 
Peking),  70 
delivers    the    "  Five    Group    De- 
mands," 43 
retirement  of,  70 
Hochi,  the,   and  the  Anglo-British 
Agreement,  20 
on  causes  lowering  quality  of  ex- 
ports, 210 
Tokyo  organ  of  Okuma,  238 
Hosiery,  an  embargo  on,  196 
factories,  Japanese,   170 
imports     and     exports     in     1916, 
196,   197,  203 


I 

Imports,    a    British   embargo   on, 
195  et  seq. 
Chinese,  281 

falling-off  of  English  and  Ameri- 
can, in  Manchuria,  13 
Germany's  pre-War,  119 
Japanese,  ig6,  203,  205 
India,   the    Yorodzu   on   England's 
anti-Japanese  attitude  in,  21 
Inouye,  Marquis,   169 


INDEX 


297 


Inukai,  Mr.,  leader  of  Independent 
Party,  273 
the  Asahi  on,  275 
Iron  mines  of  Yangtze  Valley,  44 
Ishii,    Baron,    conscientious  desire 
for  Open  Door  policy,  10 
fall  of  the  Okuma  Cabinet,  10 
frank  conversation  with  author,  4 
offers     author     letters    of     intro- 
duction, 9 
on  anti-British   Press  campaign, 

18,  190 
on  Japanese  policy  in  Manchuria, 

8  et  seq. 
succeeds  Viscount  Kato,  70 
Ishlkawa,    Mr.,   editor   of   the   Jiji 
Shimbun,  19 
excerpts  from  his  journal,  239 
on  Japan's  policy  towards  China, 

83 

on  the  coup  of  the  Genro,  226 
Ito,     Marquis,     appoints    his    suc- 
cessor, 224 

commanded    to    prepare   a    draift 
constitution,  249 

"  Commentaries  on  the  Constitu- 
tion of  Japan,"  251,  253 

his  secretary,  247 

interviewed   on    subject   of    Con- 
stitution of  Japan,  247 
Iwasa,  J.,  speaks  at  a  meeting  of 
newspaper  men,  238 


Japan,    a   big   loan   to   Hanyeping 

Company,  52 
acquires      lease      of      Chinchow 

Peninsula,  97 
admitted        desires        regarding 

China,  4 
advocates    the    Open    Door    for 

China,  6,  7 
Agreement  with  Russia,  125 
and  American  capital,  287  et  seq. 
and    the    Anglo-Japanese    Agree- 
ment, 17  et  seq. 
and  the  Great  War,   190  et  seq., 

200 
budgets  of,  254 
cheap  labour,   171 

(C/.  Wages) 
compulsory    military    service    in, 

248 


Japan  [continued) — 

conservation  of  dabour  in,  159 
et  seq. 

cotton  goods  industry  of,  170 

demands  freedom  of  placing  her 
police  about  Manchuria,  60 

ever-recurring  scandals,  273,  275 

evolution  of  the  commercial  ele- 
ment in,  16S 

"Five  Group  Demands"  handed 
to  China,  43 
[See  also  Five  Group  Demands) 

foreign  policy,  the  dictators  of, 
83,  84 

franchise  in,  83,   193,  254 

her  attitude  as  to  Great  War  ex- 
plained, 193 

her  attitude  towards  China,  4 
et  seq.,  278 

ill-feeling  with  America,  220 

imports  and  exports  in  1916,  196, 
■  203     [Cf.  Exports) 

improved  conditions  of  moral 
rectitude  in  commerce,  208 
et  seq. 

inopportune  attack  on  Britain  in, 
ly  et  seq. 

"Intellectual  Element"  in,  5,  19 

Jingoism  in,  5,  279 

labourer  and  his  hire,  214  et  seq. 

life  of  fifty  years  ago,  165  et  seq. 

military  party  of,  83,  84,  222, 
227,  229  et  seq.,  254,  255,  270 

political  history  of,  6 

political  parties  in,  231,  239,  271, 
273.  275,  276 

population  of,   104 

pro-German  element  in  army  of, 
192 

purchases  of  iron  ore,  etc.,  50, 
53>  54.  67 

railways  of,   129 

relations  with  America,  243 

social  class  of  fifty  years  ago,  167 

strangle-hold  on  Hanyeping  Com- 
pany, 62,  66 

subscribes  to  Open  Door  declara- 
tion, 124  et  seq. 

Terauchi  on  policy  of,  260  et  seq. 

the  Hanyeping  agreement,  63 

the  1917  elections  in,  271 

the  Strong  Man  of,  270 

treaties  with  Russia,  104,  224 

wages  in,  105,  113,  171,  172,  179, 
187,  214 


298 


INDEX 


Japan    Advertiser,    the,    comments 
on  Terauchi's  speech,  257 
on    Japanese    labourer    and    his 

wage,  214 
on   Okuma   and   the  coup  of   the 

Genro,   225 
on  the  Japanese  Constitution,  251 
Jafan    Monthly,    the,    an    excerpt 

from,  243 
Japanese,    alleged    advantages     to 
the,   122 
attitude  towards  American  enter- 
prise in  China,  281  et  seq. 
commercial   immorality,    25,    137, 

185,  207,  208,  210  et  seq. 
contravention    of     treaty     agree- 
ments admitted,  132 
English     prejudice     against  :     a 
Cabinet  Minister's  views,  22 
labour,  105 

compared    with    Chinese,     no 
et  seq. 
militarists      and      Chinese      sov- 
ereignty, 82  et  seq. 
workmen,  loquacity  of,   in,   112, 
118 
Japanese-American     problem,     the 
Asahi  on,  233 
Telations,    Tokutomi    and    G.    B. 
Rea  comment  on,  242,  243 
Japanese    Constitution,    the,    side- 
lights  on,    247    et    seq.,    252 
et  seq. 
Japanese  Forestry  Bureau  and  de- 
forestation, 211 
Japanese   Government,   the,    and   a 
syndicate    of    manufacturers, 

Japanese  Press,  the,  an  anti-British 
campaign  in,  17  et  seq.,  190 
and  its  control,  86,  229 
and   the  projected   railway   from 

Feng-chen,  282 
and  the  suffrage,  279 
fiji   Shimbun,    the,    an   article   on 
workmen    and    their    wages, 
214 
and   the    Anglo-Japanese    Agree- 
ment, 19 
on  Japanese  militarists,  83 
on  Okuma's  defeat  by  the  Genro, 

226 
sitting  on  the  fence,  239 
Jingoism  in  Japan,  5,  279 
Jordan,  Sir  John,  29 


Jordan,  Sir  John  {continued) — 
an  appointment  with,  69 
and  the  Hanyeping  agreement,  81 
on  China's  loans  and  finance,  69, 
91 


Kailan  coal  mine  (Chihli),  50 
Kaneko,   Viscount,  on  co-operation 
between  America  and  Japan, 
287 
Kang  Yu  Wei,  escape  of,  74 
Kansu,  Chinese  province  of,  281 
Kato,    Viscount,    a    new    political 
party  for,  239,  271,  273 
(Cf.  Kenseikai  party) 
and    the    Five    Group    Demands, 

191 
becomes  Premier,  10 
defends  his  policy  in  China,  274 
fall  of,  70,  71 

Foreign  Minister  in  Japan,  70 
Hayashi  on,  73 
on  lack  of  confidence  in  political 

parties,  276 
on  Okuma's  resignation,  224 
questionable  action  of,  73 
speeches  to  his  new  party,   274, 

279 
the  Military  Party  and,  84 

[Cf.  Military  Party) 
upholds  Anglo-Japanese  Alliance, 
274 
Katsura,    Prince,   and   Mr.    Ozaki, 

275 
appoints  his  successor,  224 
Keijo  (Seoul),  a  chat  on  the  station 

at,  152 
Kenseikai    party,    attitude    on    the 
suffrage,  278 
formation  of,  273 
oppose  Terauchi  Ministry,  239 
power  of,  271 
Kinoshita,    Mr.    (of    the    Japanese 

Imperial  Railways),  129 
Kiouchau,    a    "rearguard    action" 

at,  193 
Kirin,  Province  of,  104 
Knox,   Mr.,   and   Manchurian  rail- 
ways, 92 
Kobe    Chronicle,   the,    a   letter    to, 
from    an    English    resident, 

197 
Kokonor  district  (Tibet),  281 


INDEX 


299 


Kokumin  Shimbun,  the,  advocates 
co-operation  with  America, 
290 

candid  criticism  in,  20 

chanipions  Terauchi  and  his  ap- 
pointment, 241 

suggestions  to  Terauchi  Ministry, 

257 
supports  Terauchi,  242  et  seq. 
Kokuminto  party,  the,  273,  275 
Kongosan  (Korea),  deforestation  at, 

211 
Korea,  10 
annexation  of,  269 
Japanese  progress  in,  151  et  seq. 
Terauchi  and  the  Press  of,  239 
(C/.  Chosen) 
Koyii  Club,  the,  231,  273 
Kuei-hua-cheng,  camel  mart  of,  281 
Kunisawa,    Dr.,   denies   that  Open 
Door  is  closed  in  Manchuria, 
•  132 

interviewed,  129 

Vice-President    of     South     Man- 
churian  Railway,  127,  128 
Kwangtung    Province,   a   fight   be- 
tween revolutionaries,   94 
Kwangtung  War,  27,  37 
Kwansai    district,    action    on    em- 
bargo question,   202 
Kwei-hwa-ting,  camel  mart  of,  281 


Labour,  Japanese,  214  et  seq. 

conditions  of,  159  et  seq. 

organisation  of,  refused,  216 

rates  of  wages,  105,  113,  171,  172, 
179,  187,  214 
Lan-chow-fu,  capital  of  Kansu,  282 
Land  Tax,  Chinese,  60,  94,  95 

question  of  control,  39,  41 
Leggett,    General,     Commander-in- 
Chief  in  the  Philippines,  143 
Liang  Chi  Chiao,  28 

an  interview  with,  38 

and  Hayashi,  74 

becomes  Minister  of  Finance,  40 

opinions  of  two  political  enemies 

on.  37 
Liang  Shih  \i  exiled,  47 

on  Liang  Chi  Chiao,  37,  75 
Liaotung  (see  Chinchow) 
Likin,  95,  121,  143,  147,  148 


Li  Lit  Kwan,  30 
Linievitch,  General,  89 
Li  Yuan  Hung,  President,  29 
his  official  residence,  89 
on  the  salt  gabelle,  94,  95 
personality  of,  93 
Sir  John  Jordan  on,  69 
Luk  Wing  Ting,  30 
Lung  Chai  Kwong,  General,  30 
Lushun  [see  Port  Arthur) 


M 

Mainichi,  the,  attacks  Terauchi,  238 

on  American  loans  to  China,  292 

Makino,       Baron,       statement      on 

Japanese  -  American     affairs, 

234 

Manchuria,    a    daily     paper    pub- 
lished  in   English,    loi,    129, 

a  trip  to,  97  et  seq. 

alleged   favouritism    to   Japanese 

and    obstruction    to    British 

traders  in,  9,  12 
an  after  the  War  problem,  138 
early  days  of  Japanese  occupancy 

of,  12 
exports  and  imports,  120,  121 
"friendly   co-operation"    in,    146 

et  seq. 
Japanese  policy  in,  99 
Japan's  absolute  authority  in  :  an 

official  report,  14 
Japan's  demand  re  police,  60,  149 
Kato   on    Japanese   influence   in, 

mistrust  of  Japanese  in,  208 
official  Japanese  publication  on, 

146 
Open  Door  in  [see  Open  Door) 
part  leased  to  Japan,  11 
pre- War    German   trade   in,    119, 

139 

proposed     railway     on     western 

borders  of,  92 
(C/.   Siems-Carey) 
question   of    Chinese   sovereignty 

in,  61,  142,  150,  280 
railways  of,  98,  loi,  130 
rates  in,  and  how  assessed,  102 
the  situation  in  1908,   13 
Manchitria    Daily   News,   the,    loi, 

129,  131 


300 


INDEX 


Manchuria  Daily  News  (cont.) — 
its  editor's  admissions,  132 
significant  paragraphs  in,  134 
Ma  Ting  Liang,  Mr.,  a  visit  to,  147 
an  introduction  to,  127 
on  the  Five  Group  Demands,  149 
Matsukata,   Marquis,  a  member  of 

the  Genro,  224 
Matsumuro,  Mr.,  post  in  Terauchi's 

Cabinet,  237 
Matsuyama,     Mr.,     editor     of     the 

Asahi,  19 
Meiji,  Emperor,  and  Japan's  mili- 
tary growth,  254 
plans  for  defence,  255 
Military  party   of   Japan,   the,   83, 
84,  222,  227,  229  et  seq.,  254, 

255>  270" 
the  Yorodzu  on,  237 
Mining,   question  of  foreign  capi- 
tal :  General  Tuan's  views,  62 
Mitsubishi  Company,  the,  idealistic 

schemes  of,   160 
Mitsui  Bussan  Kaisha,  the,  an  act 

of  deforestation  by,  210 
Mongolia,      a     collision      between 
Japanese  and  Chinese  in,  60 
a  projected  railway  in,  282 
the  Japanese  police  question,  60 
transport  in,  281 
"  Most    Favoured    Nation  "   clause, 
the  foundation  of  the   Open 
Door  iq.v.),  125 
Motono,  Viscount,  returns  to  Tokyo, 
219,  277 
the  Yorodzu  on,  237 
Mukden,  small  traders  in,  102 


N 

Nagasaki,  the  Mitsubishi  Company 

at,  160 
Nakamura,     Baron,     President    of 

South   Manchurian   Railway, 

129,  132 
Nakano,    Mr.,    on  the  embargo  of 

hosiery,  203 
Nakashoji,      ^''r.,      and      Doshikai 

party,  2,^ 
on  need  of  commercial  morality, 

211 
the  Yorodzu  on,  237 
Narasaki,      Captain,     chats     with 

author,  117 


Narasaki,  Captain  [continued) — 
on  Chinese  labour,  118 
on  the   Open  Door,   119  et  seq. 
popularity  of,  117 
S.M.R.  manager  at  Dairen,  116 
National    Defence    Commission    of 

Japan,  254,  255 
Newchwang   (Yingkou)  as  rival  to 

Dairen,  130 
New   York  Times  on  the  Terauchi 

interview,  261 
Nichi-Nichi    Shimbun,    the,    anti- 
British  articles  in,  19 
on  Terauchi,  240 
on  the  Russian  embargo,  205 
Nippon  Dempo  News  Agency,  the, 
an   inspired   pronunciamento 
by,  278 

O 

Obata,  Mr.,  on  industrial  loans  to 

China,  291 
Ohya,     Dr.,     director     of     Chosen 

Railway,  129 
Oishi,   Mr.,   joins    Seiyukai  party. 

Oka,      'Mr.,      director      of      Tokyo 

Museum  of  Commerce,  175 
Okada,     Mr.,     post     in     Terauchi 

Cabinet,  237 
Okuma  Cabinet  and  the  anti-British 
Press  campaign,  192 
fall  of,  194 
Okuma,    Marquis,   a   new   attitude 
towards  China,  277 
and  Yuan  Shih  Kai,  74 
changes  his  party,  275 
friction  with  the  Seiyukai,  223 
Hayashi  on  foreign  policy  of,  73 
his  "candid  friend,"  244 
letter  of  resignation,  224 
on  an  anti-British  campaign,  18 
on  the  Genro,  227 
peace  and  war  views  of,  255 
recommends     Kato    as    his    suc- 
cessor, 224 
resignation  of,  10,  223,  224 
statement    as    to    Japan's    Open 

Door  policy,  126 
the  Koyu  Club  and,  273 
valedictory  address,  83 
Open   Door,   the,   America  not  the 
only  guardian  of,  288 
an  American  on,  144,  145 


INDEX 


301 


Open  Door,  the  (continued) — 
Captain    Narasaki's    views,    118, 

119  et  seq. 
definition  of,  125 
Japanese  idea  of,  7,  8,  135,  136 
New     York     Times     comnicfnts     on 

Terauchi's  allusion  to,  262 
preferential  treatment  for  Japan- 
ese, 201 
question  of  railway  and  shipping 

rebates,  119 
subjects  connected  with  question, 

56 
"temporary  discrimination"  ad- 
mitted, 132,  133 
Terauchi  on,  261 
Oriental  races,  their  conception  of 

cleanliness,   155 
Osaka,   an   euamelled-ware   factory 

in,  185 
cotton  mills  and  hosiery  trade  of, 

170 
official    tables    of    Chambers    of 

Commerce  re  wages,  215,  216 
protests      against      embargo      of 

hosiery  in,  199 
rice  paddies  of,  178 
rise  in  wages  in,  214 
the  British  Consulate  in,  178 
Oyama,    Prince,    a  member   of   the 

Genro,  224 
Ozaki,  Mr.,  advocates  extension  of 

suffrage,  278 
and  Prince  Katsura,  275 
leader  of  Chuseikai  part}',  273 
on  anti-British  campaign,  191 
Terauchi  Cabinet  and,  271 


Pao-tow-Chen,    Chinese    mart    in, 
281 

Peking,  conservative  tendencies  of, 
30 
picturesqueness  of,   88 

Peking   Gazette,  the,  on  a  railway 
contract,   283 

Pig-iron    and    ore,    an     important 
clause   in   Hanyeping   agree- 
ment, 65 
Japan  purchases,  50,  53,  54,  67 

Pinghsiang  Colliery,  the,  49 

Political   life  of  Japan,   ever-recur- 
ring scandals  in,  223 


I  Political  parties  in  Japan,  231,  239, 
271.  273,  27s,  276 
Port  Arthur,  candid  speech  at,  192 

fortified  by  Russia,  97 
Portsmouth,   Treaty  of,   14,   15,   97, 

103,  104 
Poshane  coal  mine  (Shangtung),  50 
Press,    Japanese,    and   suffrage  ex- 
tension, 279 
controlled  by  the  Military  Party, 

86,  229 
on  Terauchi's  appointment,   225, 
231,  236  et  seq. 


R 

Railway     and     shipping     rebates, 
question  of,  9,  117,   119,  121, 

Dr.  Kunisawa's  denials,  132 
freight  rates  question,   129 
preferential  treatment  for  Japan, 
129 
Railways,  Chinese,  282,  283 
an     American     scheme    objected 

to,  283  et  seq. 
Japanese,  129 

Manchurian,  98,   loi  et  seq.,   130 

et  seq. 

Rea,    Geo.    Bronson,   comments  on 

an    article    in  the   Kokumin, 

242 

Reinsch,    Dr.,    American    Minister 

at  Peking,  30,  94 
Russia,  agreement  with  Japan,  125 
an  embargo  of  Japanese  luxuries, 

205 
fortifies  Port  Arthur,  97 
Japan's       advantageous       treaty 

with,  224 
new  treaty  with  Japan,   104 
objects     to     construction     of     a 
Chinese  railway,  283 
Russo-Japanese    agreement,    Terau- 
chi and,  264 
Russo-Japanese  War,  the,   n,  97 
spirit  animating  Japanese  Army, 
249 


Saigo  Rebellion,  the,  268 
Saionji,  Marquis,  a  member  of  the 
Genro,  224 


302 


INDEX 


Sakatani,      Baron,      a     newspaper 
interview  in   New  York,   233 
policy  of,  270 

post  in  Terauchi  Cabinet,  237 
Salt  tax,  the,  34,  59,  94,  95 
Scott,   J.   W.   Robertson,  on  Japan 

and  the  Japanese,  vii. 
Seiyukai  party,  the,  223,  273,  275, 
276 
and  the  suffrage,  279 
Sekai,  the,  dissatisfied  with  Teran- 
chi's     first    official    address, 
26s 
stumbles  on  the  truth,  241 
Seoul  [see  Keijo) 
Shahokou,    model    village  of,    106, 

no 
Shahokou   Works,    a    visit   to   the, 
105  et  seg. 
working   hours   and   wages,    in, 

"3 

Shanghai,  a  steamship  service  from 
Dairen,   116 
imports  from,  120 
Shansi,  281 

Shantung  captured  by  the  Japanese, 
200 
Japanese  influence  in,  275 
Sharkey,   J.   E.,   interviews  Terau- 
chi,  260 
Sheng   Hsun   Hui,   a   bold   venture 
of,  51 
flight  and  death  of,  52 
starts  the  Pinghsiang  Colliery,  49 
Shibusawa,  Baron,  letters  of  intro- 
duction from,   10,   129,   17s 
on    moral    culture    of    Japanese, 

2og,  210 
proposes  joint  American -Japanese 

enterprises,  289 
"the      Grand       Old      Man      of 
Japanese  commerce,"  168 
Shimidzu,    Mr.,    Consul-General   at 

Sydney,  184 
Shipping     and     railway     rebates 
question,    9,     117,    119,    121, 
129,   132 
an  Englishman  on,  137 
Shum  Tsen  Huen,  General,  30 

on  Liang  Chi  Chiao,  37 
Siberian  Railway,  the,  104 
Siems  -  Carey      Company's      loan 
scheme,   234,  282,  291 
a  Chinese  editor  on,  286 
international  protests  against,  283 


Sino  -  Japanese    negotiations,     the, 

attitude  of  U.S..\.,  2S8 
South  Africa,   English   attitude  to- 
wards Japanese  in,  21 
South    Manchurian    Railway,    the, 
98,  loi  et  seq. 
a  steamship  line  from  Dairen  to 

Shanghai,   116 
as  newspaper  proprietor,  loi,  129 
its  Open  Door  policy,  119  et  seq. 
Japanese    Government    as    share- 
holder,  loi,   128 
mileage  of,  103 
special     percentage     proposition, 

132 
the  Shahokou  Works,  106  et  seq. 
South    Sea    Islands,   the,    Japanese 

occupation  of,  288 
Soya  beans,  culture  and  export  of, 

104,   118,  121,  144 
Soyeda,   Dr.,   editor  of  the  Hochi, 

20 
Standard  Oil  Company  of  America, 

the,  137 
Stoessel,  General,  as  guide,  89 
Straw  hats,  Japanese,  177 
Su,  Prince,  and  his  followers,  61 
Suehiro,     Professor,     on    America- 
Japanese  friendship,   287 
Suffrage    question    in    Japan,    278, 

279 
Sugar  duties,   Japanese,   206 
Sugimura,  K.,  editor  of  the  Asahi, 

230,  239 
Sun   Yat    Sen,    Dr.,    an    interview 
with,  40 
Wu  Ting  Fang  on,  29 
Susaki,   Mr.,   238 
Suzuki,  Rear-Admiral,  255 


Taiyo,      the,      Robertson       Scott's 

article  in,  vii. 
Tang    Shao  Yi,    leader   of   Revolu- 
tionary party  in  the  south,  38 
Taxation,  Japanese,  39,  41,  59,  60, 

94,  95>  121,  143,  147,  148 
Tayeh  mines,  the,  49 

value  of,  51 
Terauchi,  Count,  a  luncheon  to  the 
Press,  256 
a  message  to  England,   260 
activities  of,  268 


INDEX 


303 


Terauohi,  Count   [continued) — 
and     the     liritish     embargo     on 

hosiery,  203,  204 
author's  talk  with,  268  et  seq. 
first  official  address  as  Premier, 

264 
foreign  policy  outlined,  265 
his  message  to  the  U.S.A.,  260 

New  York  Times  on,  261 
his  right  arm  shattered,  268 
how  he  became  Premier,  219,  223 
newspaper    protests    against    his 

selection,   229   et  seq. 
on  Anglo-Japanese  Alliance,  264 
Press  attacks  on,   236  et  seq. 
selected  by  the  Genre  as  Premier, 

76,  225 
suffrage  question  and,  279 
the  Military  Party  and,  85 
[Cf.   Military  Party) 
Tientsin,  Terauchi  at,  268 
Tokutomi,       J.       (editor      of      the 
Kokumin  Shimbun),  20,  236, 
241 
advocates       co-operation       with 

America,  290 
interview  with,  244 
on  the  selection  of  Terauchi,  245 
Tokyo,  a  chat  with  the  Minister  of 
Foreign  Affairs,  4,  8 
a  new  political  party  in,  271,  273 
an   anti-British  campaign  in,    17 

et  seq.,   190 
demonstration  of  newspaper  men 

at,  238 
freight  rates  question  in,  129 
[Cf.     Railway     and     shipping 
rebates) 
National  Bank  of,  and  its  Presi- 
dent, 169 
newspaper     comments     on     com- 
mercial morality,  211 
Press      criticisms      of      Russia's 

embargo,  205 
protests      against      embargo      of 

hosiery,   199 

Terauchi's  talk  to  the  governors : 

Press  criticisms,  266 

Tokyo    Conference,    a    moot    point 

under  discussion  at,  131,  133 

Trade  marks,  the  Japanese  and,  25 

Trade  unions  prohibited  in  Japan, 

216 
Treaties  :     Americo-Japanese,     126, 
288 


Treaties  (continued) — 

Anglo-Japanese,    17   et  seq.,    125, 

264 
Japanese-Russian,    104,    125,   224, 

264 
the  Most  Favoured  clause  in,  125 
Treaty  of   Portsmouth,    14,    15,   97, 

103,   104 
Tsing-tau  taken  from  the  Germans, 

212 
Tsudzuki,  Baron,  247 
Tuan  Chi  Jui,  Premier,  38,  56 
and  his  colleagues,  233 
gives  author  introduction  to  Ma 

Ting  Liang,  127 
interview  with,  59  et  seq. 


U 

United    States,    the,    and    Asiatic 
labour,    244 
financial  benefits  by  Great  War, 

288 
graft  in,  206 

Japan's  Agreement  with,  126 
Terauchi's  message  to,  260 
Wu  Ting  Fang  in,  27 
(5^1?  also  America) 


Victoria,  Queen,  Jubilee  of,  269 


W 

Wages,  cause  of  fall  in  certain  in- 
dustries, 216 
in    various    factories,     105,     113, 

171,   172,   179,   187,  214 
rise  in  :  official  table  of,  215 
Weaving  industry  of  Japan,  161 
White,    Mr.,  of   British   Consulate, 

Osaka,   178 
Wuchang  and  its  population,  48,  49 
Wu    Chao    Chu,    Dr.,    as   author's 
interpreter,   57,  88 
his  legal  acquirements,  90 
Wu  Ting  Fang,  author's  interview 
with,  27 


Vamagata,    Prince,    and    Viscount 
Kato,  274 


304 


INDEX 


Yamagata,  Prince  {continued) — 
confers  with  Terauchi,  277 
head  of  the  Genre,  224,  254,  274, 

Yamaguchi,  General,  268 
Yamamoto  Cabinet,  fall  of,  273 

involved  in  a  naval  scandal,  223 
Yamashita,    Mr.,    conducts    author 
over  Shahokou  Works,  106 
on  Japanese  and  Chinese  labour, 
no  et  seg. 
Yamaio,   the,   criticises  the  Anglo- 
Japanese  Agreement,  17 
Yangtze-Kiang,  the,   rise  and  flow 

of,  43 
Yangtze  Valley,  mines  of,  44 

papulation  of,  43 
Yanigizawa,    Count,    on    Japanese 

trade  in  Tsing-tau,  212 


Yentai,  coal  mine  of,  128 
Yingkou  [see  Newchwang) 
Yokohama  Specie  Bank,  a  big  loan 

by,  64 
Yomiurt,    the,    on   American   loans 

to  China,  291 
Yorodzu,  the,   and  the  anti-British 
campaign,  20 
attacks  Terauchi,  236,  237 
Young,    Robert,    a    terse    comment 

by,  202 
Yuan    Shih    Kai    and    Hanyeping 
Company,  53 
and  the  Chinese  Revolution,  75 
betrays  the  reformers,  74 
death  of,  47 

receives    the    "Five    Group    De- 
mands," 43 
Sir  John  Jordian  on,  29 


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